Bermuda continued

Hello folks,

Sooooo, woke up this morning and ate a whole mountain of bacon. . It was awesome. The weather today is perfect- sunny, breezy, and what am I doing? I'm sitting in the lab watching my sister scrape zooxanthelli off of her little tube corals and homogenize them. It's great.

**a few hours later**

So, we ended up avoiding lunch at the station that Em works at and heading out to one of the nearby towns, St. Georges, and ate at a nice little restaurant on the water. We also went touring around the local area on the scooter, which stopped 3 times for no apparent reason while we were driving around, causing some frustration. Then Em went back to the lab, began doing work, and then someone was looking for a spare diver and a boat sitter and we quickly abandoned aforementioned work and I sat on a boat in the sun for a few hours while Em cemented coral back to reefs.

However, now on to the more interesting stuff- the evening. We went out for this AMAZING sushi in Hamilton, it was so freaking delicious. Then we headed over to the Pickled Onion, otherwise known as the Purple People Eater, and hung out for a bit there- after realizing the low free drink potential (if you know what I mean), we left. As Em's friend says, "We give birth, we deserve free drinks". :)

So we headed over to a bar called Cairo, and that was SO much fun. Good music, good people, just a really crowded fun place to be. Again, Em and her friend danced up a storm, turning heads in every direction, while I stood to the side with the guys and with the very definate statement of "my hips do NOT move like that". We were out until about 130 I think, but the weather was perfect at night and the breeze right off the water was awesome.

Peace.

Bermuda

So, I'm in Bermuda visiting my little sister Emily for Thanksgiving! It's pretty nice, we just had a great turkey dinner... and we're so tired because of the T-phan and the snorkeling/diving that we did ALL day today. The sun tried to come out for a bit, but even without it the weather is warm and mild and its awesome to see Em cause I havent seen her since before I went to Tanzania... so nearly a year! Tomorrow means sushi and going to bars... because this is bermuda and we've got to shake it up a bit. The trip here was a bit intense, we were delayed for over an hour and a half because some lady didnt show up to the plane and they had to find her bag... turns out she was either really drunk or mentally unstable and in either case in no condition to fly...and then I got stopped by immigration, nearly strip searched, drug swabbed, and FINALLY released into the arms of my loving sister. Then we scootered to where she's staying and met some people and then scootered to the beach, where the scooter then wouldn't start again and we had to abandon it and walk back.

Now I want candy. Peace.

A universe of dreams

So I went to this performance last night, titled "A Universe of Dreams". It was by the Ensemble Galilei, a group of a few musicians, in conjunction with an NPR announcer, who created in this show a merging of poetry, pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, and music. It was amazing, so I thought I'd copy one of the poems from it below. That's it for now!

The Science of the Night, by Stanley Kunitz

I touch you in the night, whose gift was you,
My careless sprawler,
And I touch you cold, unstirring, star-bemused,
That have become the land of your self-strangeness.
What long seduction of the bone has led you
Down the imploring roads I cannot take
Into the arms of ghosts I never knew,
Leaving my manhood on a rumpled field
To guard you where you lie so deep
In absent-mindedness,
Caught in the calcium snows of sleep?

And even should I track you to your birth
Through all the cities of your mortal trial,
As in my jealous thought I try to do,
You would escape me--from the brink of earth
Take off to where the lawless auroras run,
You with your wild and metaphysic heart.
My touch is on you, who are light-years gone.
We are not souls but systems, and we move
In clouds of our unknowing
like great nebulae.
Our very motives swirl and have their start
With father lion and with mother crab.
Dreamer, my own lost rib,
Whose planetary dust is blowing
Past archipelagoes of myth and light
What far Magellans are you mistress of
To whom you speed the pleasure of your art?
As through a glass that magnifies my loss
I see the lines of your spectrum shifting red,
The universe expanding, thinning out,
Our worlds flying, oh flying, fast apart.

From hooded powers and from abstract flight
I summon you, your person and your pride.
Fall to me now from outer space,
Still fastened desperately to my side;
Through gulfs of streaming air
Bring me the mornings of the milky ways
Down to my threshold in your drowsy eyes;
And by the virtue of your honeyed word
Restore the liquid language of the moon,
That in gold mines of secrecy you delve.
Awake!
My whirling hands stay at the noon,
Each cell within my body holds a heart
And all my hearts in unison strike twelve.

Quick note from Bucknell

Hi everyone! This is just a quick note to tide over those of you who find this blog to be the highlight of their every waking moment, or atleast of one such moment in every hundred thousand or so.

I'm at Bucknell (blah) and finally, for the first time, I have managed to take classes that I actually want to take! And not just one, oh no.... 3 whole classes that I want to be in! I'm taking General Chemistry (that would be the 4th), a seminar on Norse Saga with an ecocritical and phenomenological focus, a course called Nature Writing\Writing Nature, and Primate Behavioral Ecology. On top of which I am still running the 1 in 4, working at 2 coffee shops, and this year getting paid to do the work that I would have done already at the environmental center (and I gained a new not terribly serious title: Chief of Staff)! Plus, and this is way cool, I heard through the grapevine that I won some type of award last semester for my environmental work the semesters before, and I'm splitting it with my roomie (who also won) and it's $250 each! We just have to wait until they officially announce it.

So anyway, thats the low down on the big stuff. Toodles.

London Heathrow... worlds away

Two posts in one week?!?! Amazing. So, I'll start with a brief summary of my last few days: Sleep, wake, eat, sleep. Also, ran into two great free festival thingies while wandering aimlessly around London, including one where people belayed (as in, used ropes to scale up and down) a giant poster while dancing, messing around, and wearing various costumes... highly amusing! The other one was an old people's festival, celebrating music and age and the caribbean and stuff like that... I bought some fudge and walked around thinking how cute old people are!

As a little side note: How cool would the job of "destroying luggage" be? As in, when you are in an airport, and that annoying announcement says: " Please do not leave your luggage unattended. For security purposes, any unattended luggage will be removed and destroyed". How do you think they do it? I think, since airports are ultra-mega efficient, they must somehow use all the liquids and sharp objects they confiscate in the destruction process. Perhaps they drown your luggage and then cut it into little bitty pieces with your nail clippers. Just a thought.

So, anyway, I am currently sitting in Heathrow airport (as you may have guessed by the title of this post), sipping some tea and contemplating how best to inform nearly all Bucknellians that I will be particularly intolerant of any mouth flatulance (a disease that runs rampant at Bucknell) this upcoming year. Basically, I have realized through my minor accidental and entirely unplanned contact with The Young American Female In Possesion of Daddy's Credit Card ( aka the YAFPDCC, ie Bucknellians) that this year is going to be an extreme test of my self control... Hmmm, I am off topic again... Right, anyway, I'm heading home today, then back to school tomorrow, then classes the next day, and I keep telling myself that my 4 years at Bucknell have been a good thing but I am not entirely sure of that. I guess it all comes down to that piece of paper that I will get in a year saying "Congrats, you have suffered for long enough that we are prepared to release you, but not before hassling you to give us MORE money for atleast the next 15 years". Its funny that a piece of paper (oh, and $160,000) can get me a better job then, oh, I don't know, common sense? Because I have proven through long hours of research that that is all many YAFPDCC's have going for them, this piece of paper (certainly no common sense).
Anyhow, be back in the good ole USA later today! On another side note, I believe that this website (aka my blog) formally supports Hillary for President, though that may change.

Good BYe, and Thanks For all the Fish!

Coming home...

Howdy folks,

So its that time again. Time that I post a wee little note to let ya'll in on what's going on. Currenty, I am sitting on a wobbly metal stool that has certainly seen better days in a tiny tiny cafe in Napoli, Italy, the city of my birth (and so therefore famous all over the world). I didnt actually visit Napoli at all, I'm just traveling through because I spent an extra day on Sicily instead, and last night took the overnight ferry from Catania to here. On Sicily I stayed with two amazingly cool and awesome (I hope you read this Mike) dudes (hehehe) ... two great people named Mike and Gabriella, not to leave out in any way the 5 cats that also called the place home. Anyway, Mike took me hiking up around Monte Satorias (sp?), we saw volcano craters and Etna smoking and where the lava has come down over time... it was really quite amazing. The entire rest of the time I sat in the shade, petting Trouble (my nearly-stolen kitty friend) reading, and according to Mike, consuming all of the food in the house (all lies I tell you), gaining myself the nickname of "piglet". I personally enjoied my time there greatly and would love to visit again in the winter to go sliding down the volcano sides!

anyway, I am flying back to london today, then home in 2 days on the 20th. My phone will be back in operation on the 20th, so anytime after 410pm you can start calling... mark it on your calander folks, I will be back in operation.

Europe!

Hello faithful blog readers... I say faithful because it's been so long since I last wrote that only those of you who are true blog junkies will still be checking to see if I update this thing. So, this is for YOU! And I promise to do better, even if it's just a short one every few days.

So, as many of you know, I'm currently spending my hard earned money from my job this summer traveling around Europe with my best friend Marge! Currently, we're in Koln in Germany, and are on our way to Berlin today! We spent the rest of our time so far in France, visiting La Rochelle (a particularly lovely city, definately worth visiting even if you don't miss your original flight to Marseille and it's the only other place in France that RyanAir is flying that night), Paris (hint: the wine they sell in front of the Eiffel tower at night can be bought for less than 5 euros if you bargain), Nice (WEAR SUNSCREEN, especially when exposing parts of your body that have never seen the sun), and Lyon ( if you forget to book a hostel, call ahead and they tell you they have "plenty of space", climb up the mountain in the old city to get to the hostel, are told they have no more space, climb back down to the mountain and make it to the tourism office 10 minutes before it closes, and ask them to find you a place to stay, you'll get a hotel room with its very own shower for only about 10 euros more...totally worth it).

In terms of things we've been doing, pretty much the big things in all the cities! We usually start heading toward one big thing, and then spend the rest of the day wandering around and manage to see everything else in the city... of course we have a map just in case (not that this would EVER happen) I lose my (amazing) sense of direction and we get a (tiny tiny) bit lost in the middle of wherever we are.

So, as to plans for the rest of the travels? As I mentioned, Berlin today, with a stop over in Hanover on the way... then a city in Austria (probably Salzburg on the border but maybe somewhere else), and then to Vienna sometime on the 6th. Marge leaves me on the 7th :(, and I head off to do italy on my own. Heading to Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples (for a few hours, I hear their trash company is on strike and its currently pretty rank, so let me know the one thing you think I should try to see while I'm there), and then for about 3 full days on Sicily. I'm staving with people from that CouchSurfing community online for most of the time, which should be great because its like having different travel buddies and tour guides for each place I'm going, and as I love meeting new people that should be great!

Ok, thats it for now. I'll end with a joke from one of these CouchSurfing folks who I'll be staying with on Sicily:

Q: What's Bush's answer to global warming?
A: Bomb all the hot countries.

Yours truley, Me

After a while

So, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t get on my blog from the public library in the nearest town to us, Ponteland, so once in a rare while I lug my laptop all the way to Newcastle, pay five pounds for an hour of internet time, and inform ya’ll out there what I’m up to. If anyone feels like I am a selfless, caring individual to spend this much time fulfilling your deepest desires to know what I’m doing, feel free to send those five pounds back to me at the address noted below J. I find it amusingly ironic that now that I’m back in “civilization” I’m getting online less than when I was in Africa.

Anywayyyy… I think I may have mentioned last time I wrote that my boss isn’t the ideal specimen of a kind, caring, patient individual. I guess that I get what I signed up for, using him so that I can get a job and accommodation and food for 2 months, and he using me so that he can get some cheap labor that won’t complain too much because they know they won’t find another job like it in the area (for such a short period of time). I won’t continue to go on about this because I have far too much else to talk about (right), but I’m counting down the days until I leave already!

When the pub is busy it’s really a blast. The locals enjoy picking on me, we have live entertainment about 2x a week (jazz on Wednesdays and then something else on fri/sat), and the kids I work with continue to be really enjoyable! I’m doing pretty well saving money, though I don’t really know how much I’m up to right now, but assume that it will be enough… if not, I have a bit saved anyway that I can spend if necessary. Traveling around Europe gets closer and closer, and I’m so excited to see Meg (Marge, to some of you, including me), because she’s coming on the 24^th of July and joining me for some of the travels! I continue to speak a bit of Swahili to two of the people here at work who are from Kenya, which is great because I haven’t forgotten all of it as of yet so I may be able to continue once I get back to the states if I can find someone from East Africa. And I’m not drinking too much, which is surprising as it’s the only thing to do if you aren’t working in the evening, but I guess in that regard the Aussie boy who works here has been great because his parents live in China and send him ripped-off DVDs of all the latest TV series’ seasons (House, CSI, Scrubs, Smallville), so I’ve been watching a lot of TV.

In terms of adjustments since leaving Tanzania… it really is interesting the things that stick with you and the things you adjust to without really thinking about it. I handwashed all of my laundry yesterday because it needed to get done and the machine was busy, which I certainly never would have done if I hadn’t done it for 4 months in Africa. I really notice how my boss treats the Kenyan that works for us, which I don’t think I would have payed any more attention to than anyone else before. I talk to the other Kenyan woman and feel like I understand more of where she’s coming from, and some of her views really remind me of what people thought in Tanzania. Currently I’m sitting in a Starbucks and reflecting on the huge amount of people/buildings and media/retail and individuality/conformity and wealth/poverty and parks/streets and all the other things that seem to clash so much yet fit together to make this western city, where everyone is in a rush to go places and do things and see people and make a mark on the world and make money and have a family and… life in Tanzania was much slower, more calm, though it was in many cases harder work and longer days than people work here…life went on, it didn’t nearly collapse if you couldn’t get your latte in the morning or if the roads flooded or if you suddenly got a lunch rush of 20 unexpected visitors who all wanted coffee (oh, the horrors). You could go somewhere or visit someone without planning for days in advance…if you missed the first dala-dala back you didn’t need to wait for 4 hours for the next one… I think I liked the pace of life better there than here.

But anyway, enough for now. I’m going to see the castles in the area on Saturday with one of the locals, which I’m excited about! We have a huge music festival here next weekend, which basically means hell because the boss is going to freak out all weekend, but c’est la vie. And then one week and I’m gone… and then back at Bucknell for a year and then who knows. I’m currently thinking about taking a year and just studying martial arts after school… or traveling… or a million other things. I’m open to suggestions as well J. Bye byes for now!

Cheers!

Hello folks,
So, this will have to be brief again, sorry for the lack of excitement since the last post...
Knowesgate hotel is treating me very well, I get to live and eat there for free and I get paid under the table, The hotel itself is about 45 minutes outside of Newcastle, in the middle of farming/countryside/national park land, and the area is absolutely beautiful, cows and sheep everywhere. Since we're the only thing around, and we're also a pub and restaurant, we get all the locals every night who are fun people to talk to (and they drink a lot which makes my boss happy). The only downside I've seen so far is that it's really difficult to get into even the nearest town with the internet, and that is at a public library that doesn't let me access this webpage or various others as it sees fit...oh, and that my boss is very particular in that not-so-nice sense of being a bit of an asshole one minute and really nice 5 minutes later... but anyway, the staff is from all corners of the world; an aussie, a south african, a kenyan, a spanish girl, and me from across the big puddle. There really isn't anything to spend money on (except beer) which is great because it means I'm saving money (except beer money).

So I'm in Derry in northern ireland right now, visiting a friend Michelle from Bucknell who's here on a school trip, which is great because its a long weekend and I've only been working for 1.5 weeks so far! I haven't decided whether I'll stay here the whole weekend or head back to Dublin on Sunday (I fly out of there back to Newcastle), but I'm sure I'll have fun either way! I do wish I was seeing more of Ireland, but I'll put it on my to-do list for after university! This will make 2 Bucknellians I've seen in the past 2 days, because my friend Jon who graduated some years ago was over on holiday for the past week and he came up to the hotel last night so we caught up a bit, hadn't seen him in over a year so it was fun!

Hmmmm ok, I think that's about it! xxoo miss you all!

England!

This will be the briefest of brief updates...
I HAVE A JOB! I'm working at a hotel up in Newcastle!!!
The address is:

Jessica Scott
Knowesgate Hotel
Kirkwhelpington
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Northumberland
NE19 2SH
UK

So, feel free to send me things as long as they will get there by July 23rd, and I'll write shortly when I get a mobile phone number!

Love ya'll!

Leaving Africa? NEVER.

Hello world. Tomorrow I am "free", finished with the program here in Tanzania and once again released into the wild... be afraid, be very afraid... but now, at this moment, I am suffering from intensely mixed feelings, as Tanzania has definately become home to me and the folks that I've met are some of my best friends... yet at the same time, I'm heading off in about a week on an entirely new adventure in London. I am speaking Kiswahili better than I ever have, the people in town have begun to see me as more of a local than a foreigner (BROAD spectrum), and I'm really enjoying spending time with the other students and traveling around town and knowing in general what to expect. A lot of folks are heading out to Dar and Zanzibar this upcoming week before going home, but as I don't have enough time really I'm going to hang out around Arusha and go see my homstay mama, do some tourist shopping, and generally be a bum until about Tuesday. On Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm headed up to Nairobi and will spend a few days with Judy, my friend Helen's cousin, who I met when I was in Kenya for "the removal". And then comes Friday, when I board a plane and head to London, the most expensive place in the world, where I will have to remember to speak english; won't be able to talk to random people on the streets; won't be able to stare and point at anyone I want; will have to actually use public transportation on a schedule; can't pick my nose in public; will have access to a real toilet with real toilet paper at any time; and will need to find a job and place to live really fast. Not to mention will stop eating because: 1) I will most likely get sick after eating only african food for 4 months and 2) I won't understand having to pay more than $2 for a full meal. Which is going to be even more of a problem because the dollar is so bad against the pound right now... thanks Bush. If you can't yet tell, I am wicked excited :). Ooo, and I'm seeing Othello at the Globe Theatre the second night in town, which is going to be great!

So I joined this great online community/organization thingy called couchsurfers.org... and this is where if you are related to me in a motherly capacity you should tune out :). Its basically this network of people from all ages all around the world who open up their couches, floor space, spare rooms, etc to travelers coming through their areas for a few nights for FREE! Its a great way to meet new people, and to get an inside view on their city. Also, they have a great reference system where if you get a bad reference from someone who's stayed with you you get kicked off of the system, never to return... ANYWAY, needless to say, this has amounted in me looking for free housing in London rather than paying 14 pounds a night for teh hostel I'm looking at... and I've found it! I shan't tell you details, but this person seems quite reliable, has a spare room that I may even be able to rent out for the summer (maybe), and has a really good location for conducting a job search from. Yes, I realize that this is potentially dangerous, sketchy, questionable, ridiculous, and utterly absurd... but don't forget adventurous, fun, and bound to be a good story no matter what happens. ( and now is your chance to get out the comments you have about this idea... I told you not to read this mothers :))

So, to change the subject, in terms of my return to Africa, I'm already planning it :). I'm CONSIDERING applying for a research grant from Bucknell to come back and work with the organization I was working with in Dar (LEAT) and continue investigating the Usangu conflict, conducting in depth interviews and collecting more information. There is a chance, albeit minor, that I may try to do this as part of a senior thesis and come back over winter break...but if not, then potentially after I graduate next year (scary). I will be back in some capacity however, so that Africa doesn't miss me for too long!

Alright, thats enough to chew on for now. Be back in a few days :)

Back to Arusha

So, here are some pictures of the beach on the coast of Tanzania. As you see in the second picture, you can own cows ANYWHERE... beaches, residential areas, in the middle of the city. I wonder what would happen if I owned a cow and just let it graze on my lawn in a suburb in the states? The third picture is of two of my friends here, Johanna and Rickard. She's from Finland, he's from Sweden, and I met them through LEAT. More about them later... the fourth picture is the lovely form of public transportation I have mentioned before, the dala dala. Looks like a mini van, runs about as well as a hippie van from the 1960s (aka don't turn it off or you have to push it to get it started again), and can fit about 30 people in it...if you are lucky you get a seat, if you are unlucky you are half hanging out the open door... which is quite exhilirating as you speed around other cars, over speed bumps, swerving on a second's notice to avoid potholes... However, for about 20 cents a ride ya can't complain. Too much anyway. :)

Tomorrow I leave Dar es Salaam and head back out to Arusha to finish up my semester. Its crazy to imagine, but next Friday is the last day of my program in Tanzania! I've spent the most consecutive days in a row here in Dar es Salaam out of any place in Africa, and I've made some great friends here, more than anywhere else. I've spent the past two weeks living with Johanna and Rickard (and 2 other swedish girls), because the other woman I was living with was having her boyfriend up from out of town and I didn't want to interfere. It has been great living with other wazungu who appreciate my attempts at cooking american food! I have eaten more cheese during this past month than in my entire time in Africa combined... and I am NOT complaining!

Johanna and I went out on Saturday night to a disco called the Garden Bistro. While discos usually start to get busy around 11 in the states, it took until 1230 for people to start showing up, and dancing didn't really pick up until 1 or 130 in the morning! However, when dancing did start we had a blast! We pretended it was my birthday (which got us a few drinks), and talked to some nice men from Brazil. We ended up getting home at 5am, after finding the only 24 hour pizza place in Tanzania and having our Brazillians buy us a few pies to share, which was great as pizza isn't the cheapest african food :). I love the little moments where you could be anywhere in the world, and its only when you actually stop and think that you realize "Wow, I'm in Africa!".

Anyway, I'm definately sad to be leaving Dar. While it is certainly too hot here, I have really enjoied getting to know the people who work at LEAT. I feel like I am part of the family here, and I think I will end up coming back to visit everyone in the next few years and maybe even working for a short time for LEAT after graduating. This experience has definately raised more ideas about what I could do after Bucknell, which is definately NOT what I needed as I had too many possibilities already :)... such is life as a young adult I guess!

I'm looking forward to seeing the other students on the program, and to hearing what they've been doing for the past month, because there is such a variety of interests in our group that I know everyone will have amazing stories to share. One lucky soul is even going to get to read my entire paper during our peer review process, which turned out to be 35 pages long, by far the longest paper I have ever written. And I still have to start and finish a 10 pager on the Serengeti, which I knew would get put off until the end of this trip but which now (of course) I regret not doing little by little, as well as prepare a presentation to summarize in 20 minutes what I have learned in the past month. Should be a lot of work but I think its managable...

So as of the 18th I am a free soul again. Between the 18th and the 25th I'll be bumming around, not really sure what I'll do yet, I may head up to Nairobi Kenya and actually try to see the city rather than just the hospital :). Or, I may just hang around Arusha for the week, we'll see. On the 25th of May I fly from Nairobi to London, to begin a new adventure in the UK. I still don't know where I am going to work or live, so if you've got any connections anywhere in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland) and want to put me in touch with them I'd be eternally greatful! Otherwise, I'm going to bum around London for a bit until I find a job in a restaurant or a bar, which shouldn't be too difficult. After 2 months in London, Marge is flying out to join me at the end of July and we're heading to France to catch a stage of the Tour de France, and to either Switzerland or Germany, and then she's heading home and I'll travel through Italy on my own! And then I'll return to the states, to finish up my last year at Bucknell. Crazy to think that a whole new adventure begins in less than 3 weeks... but I'm very confident in my ability to travel and plan on the spur of a moment now so I'm not worried one bit! Talk to you all next time from Arusha!

20 hours on a bus is fun!

So, if you've kept up with my blogging you know that I've been studying a region of Tanzania called the Usangu plains, and right now I am supposed to be in the middle of a week long visit to the area to talk to the main land owners and goverment leaders involved in the evictions of pastoralists that have been happening since May last year. But, I was also not supposed to have internet connection for the entire week, yet here I am, sitting at my computer, blogging away.... so, with your powers of deduction, you assume one of two things:

1) I found a secret hidden internet cafe in the middle of nowhere, Tanzania; or
2) I am NOT in Usangu right now...but how could that be?

Well, number 2 is correct, congrats Sherlock! This past Sunday, I boarded a bus, bound for a 10 hour ride to Mbeya town, in Mbarali District, Tanzania. 10 hours passed rather uneventfully, and we arrived to discover that the following day we would have to travel for another few hours to get to the area that we were trying to go to. So on Monday, after meeting with a local official, we drove for those few hours to find the district commissioner of the Usangu area. Instead of finding her, we found another gentleman, the District Executive Director, who proceeded to tell us that we hadn't planned enough for the trip, that we were coming at a bad time, and that the District Commissioner would most likely not want to meet with us. On top of that, he told us that LEAT is widely viewed as a political position rather than as a non-profit organization, due to its association with our branch manager, Tundu Lissu, who I guess has a past in politics in Tanzania. (Understand, this was all spoken in Swahili, so I only have brief notes from a follow-up meeting and am not sure exactly what happened). Thoroughly discouraged, we spent a night in a guest house in the area, and met with the district commissioner the next day- now this woman was one BIG Mama. She also was not a big supporter of our plans, and basically told us to go home and come back later. Now, when the DC tells you to go home, you can't just ignore her, even if her reasons for doing so are based in exerting her political power rather than in any good explaination... she could have us arrested, though not held on any real charges... basically, that was the end of the Usangu trip. So yesterday, I got to get back on a bus and come 10 hours back to Dar Es Salaam, where I now sit typing on my computer back in the LEAT office.

Now, this is all well and good, I really enjoy spending money to ride for 20 hours on a bus within a 3 day period of time... really! However, I have learned a lot about the politics of the organization that I am involved in, as well as about the political corruption and power in the country. Indeed, the only question that I am left with is how I am supposed to turn this failed field study into a portion of my 20 page paper, which was really dependant on completing the interviews this week with the main stakeholders in Usangu. I am most likely going to end up writing a joint report on the history of Usangu and land law in Tanzania, and also serve as an exterior consultant to LEAT, giving them my opinions on how they could make the organization work more productively and fix the flawed reputation that they currently have across Tanzania. I have found that you must include a certain amount of flexibility in all plans in Africa, as nothing ever works out exactly how you would like....

So here are a few more pictures of Africa... and yes, that is me in 2 of the pictures, so stop complaining that I never post pictures of myself :).

Dar is still hot, but I am now living with one of the women that works for LEAT in her small apartment... and how luxurious it is! We have electricity, and a TV, and a refrigerator, and even a double burner hotplate to cook on! No more cooking on fire, and we can shop for more than 1 day worth of food at a time! Plus, of course, cold water, which is amazing. She's overcharging me a bit for staying there, but I'm alright with it.

I'm actually currently sitting in the board room at the LEAT office, which is an old house, and they have given me a wire to connect to the internet! Which means that my "productivity" level has dramatically dipped in the past half hour, as I figured that this update is equally as important as coming up with a 20 page paper on something in the next 3 weeks. I have focused my study here on a current issue in the country, the Usangu Plains issue (google Usangu and a bunch of stuff will pop up). Basically, the area is a water cachement, and the river that flows out of it has been progressively drying up for long periods of time. This has been attributed to many reasons, the reason most scientifically-sound attributing the lack of water to poor irrigation practices of rice farmers in the area, in addition to poor management at the two hydroelectric dams on the river. However, the common media opinion (echoed in many of those same google articles) is that the pastoralists are causing the entire problem, through overgrazing and large herds etc. So, since May 2006 the pastoralists are being forceably relocated to far away areas, and are losing many of their cattle on the trip to this new location. Next week we go to visit the area to talk to the main stakeholders on the land, and then I get to come back and write a 20 page paper. In addition to a 10 page paper on the Serengeti ecosystem that I'm supposed to be working on... (No internet next week most likely)

So thats where I stand... let me know whats up with you! Emails are appreciated, as are the continuing comments on the blog!

Dar Es Salaam...aka "the city"

So, I have officially arrived in the big city of Dar Es Salaam , on the coast of Tanzania. It serves as a port for tanzania, as well as a stop for all tourists traveling to Zanzibar, the overly touristy island that everyone thinks of as encompassing the entire cost of Tanzania. When i say "Big city" don't be thinking NYC or anything, but there are big buildings here and traffic and people everywhere and it is certainly not a place I want to walk around in after dusk. A high percentage of Muslims live on the coast, so most women walk around with their heads covered and certainly every decent non-mzungu wears skirts below the knee, though that is normal of most of Tanzania. Upon first arrival, I paid the most I have paid for a taxi yet in Tanzania (about $8 USD) to get to the YWCA, where I spent last night and will stay again tonite... and which, surprisingly, costs the most out of anywhere that I've stayed in Tanzania (about $8 USD per night for a single room)... these are what I consider expensive prices now, lol...

But, good news! I found the organization that I am going to be working with for the next month or so! It was a bit of an adventure to get there, because its out in a residential area and the taxis from in town aren't quite sure where it is located, but once arriving I was made to feel quite at home and was introduced to the organization itself. In case I have yet to mention, it is called LEAT, short for the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team, and they have a webpage (not at all updated however) where you can read a bit about them. Basically, they pursue litigation for communities faced with issues surrounding land rights, pollution, and violation of environmental law. They also educate local communities about their rights in relation to environmental law, as well as about conservation and sustainable resource use. Finally, they work with policy makers to suggest changes to old laws, and help to draft new laws, regarding the environment in Tanzania and in East and South Africa. I think that, whatever I end up doing with them, I am bound to learn something and to interact with interesting people during this next month! And, the very very good news, the ladies at LEAT have offered me a room to stay in for free, so no more expensive YWCA!!

Back to Dar itself, a few more brief notes before I sign off for the night... I should have regular email access, as I have found a cheap internet cafe with a very nice muslim lady who has offered to take me around town and to her house for lunch (which is relatively normal in Tanzania, though if she were a man I would certainly refuse and as is I'm not so sure yet if I'll go)... I DO have a cell phone (see previos blog), and I expect at least my not-very-worrisome parents will call soon, so that I can test my phone as I have yet to recieve a call...hint hint... and thats about it for now... more soon!

Back in Touch with...

Ok, so first a list of pictures...
1. Hippo Pool....very huge smelly animals
2. Maasai homestay, Baba and child inside hut
3. The hut, made out of sticks and cow poop
4. Mama and sister, beading
5. Milking the goats (amazing chai)
6. Jake (from highschool) and I, overlooking Ngorongoro crater
7. More Ngorongoro
8. More Ngorongoro or Serengeti (i don't know...)
9. Cheetah. 30 yards from the car. Amazing.
10. Check out that sky...

Now the news, and lots of it. I just returned yesterday from a two week long safari to the Ngorongoro crater, Serengeti National Park, and to Maasailand, which involved a 4 day homestay in a Maasai boma. But first, so that you at least read this far... starting this Tuesday (April 10th), I will have a cell phone!! So, if you have a spare $5 and feel like spending it on calling Tanzania, my number is: 011-255-752-94-8353... that includes all of the country codes etc that you need to call from the states. NOTE: I am 7 hours later than those of you on the east coast. Remember this when you try to call me. A good timeframe between which to call is between midnight and 2pm, east coast time.

Now, back to the stories...The Ngorongoro crater is about 11.5 miles in diameter, and is absolutely amazing. You drive down a switchback road, after having driven through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), one of the most successful multiple land use areas in Tanzania (This means that it incorporates both human and wildlife uses, which is important since all of the Maasai that once lived in the area were kicked out of the crater itself and relocated to the surrounding area). The crater is packed full of animals, and contains the only rhino left in Tanzania, a dwindling population of 12 that is most certainly going to die out over the next 20 years or so... so many issues in this place... and so many lions, lol, we saw males and females up close and personal.

We camped a few nights near the crater, with bush pigs and buffalo running around camp and rutting at our tents, as well as hyena whooping and an incident involving lions licking at one of the girls tents... yet another sleepless night. However, a rainbow, sunrise, and sunset overlooking the crater floor makes up for the lack of sleep... on a slightly amusing note, I was wearing more layers than I usually wear during a New Hampshire winter, because it was in the mid 50s at night and that is freezing for Africa... we were all quite a sight, bundled up in our khangas and any jackets and fleece we could find, shivering and complaining, lol...

Next was the drive to the Serengeti, which included a stop at a beautiful gorge, where I gave a presentation with another girl Amy on the Serengeti itself... followed by the actual drive, which was long and hot and dusty and incredibly beautiful. You can't imagine actually being in a place that you read about in National Geographic, seeing the great migration or wildebeest, zebra, and the following young male lions stretching over the crest of a distant hill... encountering rock outcroppings that used to be hills, now inhabited by big cats of all types... studying giraffee for 3 hours each morning to try and catagorize their social interactions... words can't do this experience justice, though I find it interesting to see what sticks out while trying to recall this experience after 2 weeks :). For example, I actually got bored while staring at giraffe... like this was becoming normative, like these were my dogs back home... and we saw a lion sleeping next to a recent kill, something that takes weeks to find for the photograph that magazines want....

Maasai homestay was one of the most interesting and trying experiences of my life. First, we were bordering the rift valley wall, and Langai mounain, an active Volcano where a maasai god lives. Amazing views all around, in a semi-arid hot, dry area. Now, a snapshot... short dung and stick huts, where women cook inside goats live inside children crowd inside... dirt floors, men herd goats and cows all day while women fetch water, walk to town, clean, bead... 5 people crammed onto a hard wood and hard leather "shelf" that served as a bed in the middle of the hot night in the hot hut while men get to sleep outside... being crushed against a dung wall with a 5 year old trying to cuddle with me, coughing in my face from 3 inches away when all I want is some space... language barrier with kiswahili being the only shared language, none of us speaking it well because the Maasai speak Kimaa, their mother tounge...cultural gap so wide that we really have no level of comparison on which to have a "cultural exchange".... craving personal space like I have never craved it before. This only semi-describes the experience, which was most likely one of the most different and trying 4 days I've ever had.

So, as a final note because I'm hungry and tired and am going to sign off shortly, we were all talking and much of this program will never be able to be truly described... much of it requires such internalization and a level of understanding that you only gain through the experiences here, getting knocked down and picking yourself back up within periods of a few days.... an interalization that bonds us all while we are here, and disconnects us from the lives that we will return to... a new way of looking at our experiences and the world around us that can't be put into words... nothing to regret and so much to gain from this world.... I hope you enjoy this hodgepodge of thoughts and feelings, ttyl :).

Continuation and up-and-coming attractions!

Baobob trees, endless miles of sky, baboons, a bird like no other, and what passes as a traffic jam in Africa...

So being back with the group is amazing, I forgot how much I missed everyone. We're actually on our own in Arusha this week, as a prep week for our independant research projects (which run April 13th to May 9th). Side note: We're currently all staying in a small hostel and not having everything done for us- we were given some money and sent out on our own for the week, and while we all ended up in the same housing its nice to once again be in control of our "destinies". Anyway, Since I missed the first half of this week, I've been using it to play catch-up on the work that I missed while in Nairobi, but have no fear- I will have research to do for the upcoming month! I have been in touch with an organization located on the coast in the city of Dar es Salaam, called the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT). They work pursuing various litigation surrounding land rights, conservation, urban pollution, misuse of government office, and displacement issues, working specifically with/on the behalf of small communities that could otherwise not get any litigation services. I plan to pursue some type of case study with them... I know, oh so specific... but I'm very excited and will write more when I have more information.

So, Arusha is growing on me. Its about as urban of an area as you get in Tanzania, though its nothing like a city as we'd view it in the states. There is nothing horribly charming about the area- people follow you trying to sell you tourist-trap gifts, children and adults laugh at you and shout "mzungu mzungu" at every corner, and the air "quality" is laughable... but yet, I'm starting to feel at home here. The open market, small groceries, and women selling peanuts on the street... the overflowing dala dala (local transportation, think VW van with 20 people in it), safari cars, and store owners who take time to learn your name and say hello to you daily... the interesting mecca of foreigners, The Patesserie (where I sit right now on wireless on my laptop)... everything has grown on me and I feel at peace here. I don't mind the cultural convention of the locals pointing out at every possible oppertunity that I'm white, and often referring to me as if that was my only defining characteristic... dala dalas are amazing, 20 cents to get anywhere in town.... and the people who I do get a chance to talk to put up with my poorly pronounced kiswahili.

On Sunday we leave again for safari- serengetti, ngorongoro crater, Lake Natron, and maasai homestay. Ngorongoro, being a crater, has one of the highest concentrations of animals to be found anywhere in East Africa, so we are guarenteed to see the last rhino in East Africa (not a good thing that they're the last, a population of 20 individuals can't be viable), lions, and every other big African postcard-worthy creature. Serengetti holds the migration of wildebeest, which should be breathtaking (imagine a line of wildebeest further than the eye can see)... and hopefully, I will make it to Maasai homestay and Lake Natron, a giant soda lake that borders the Mountain of God (a mountain where the Maasai believe that their female god lives). Its still undecided if I will be strong enough for that adventure, as women often walk 10km a day carrying water and firewood... but between you and me, I plan to be 100% by then so that I can laugh at this entire incident and meet God and tell her what I think ;).

Shoutout to my Alaskan counterpart, watch the stars...

So check out the pictures... more writing tomorrow... and I think I have my best friend travel buddy back for London, horray! So this summer is going to rock (not that I can think about it while in Africa)... if you happen to want to come to europe with me let me know, or if you know anyone in london looking for a roomate for the summer... hahaha now, back to the african sun...

You won't believe this

So, as you may have noticed, I've been out of communication for the past few weeks, after promising constant updates. Well, here's the story...

Last time I wrote, we were heading off on safari in Tarengerie National park. It was absolutely incredible. On our first game drive we saw giraffe, elephants, monkeys (who lived above our camp in the trees), impala, dik dik, and the most beautiful birds. A storm welcomed us the first night, as did a curious bat eared fox, trying to get into the tent nearest to mine. That was actually pretty frightening, as it let out a blood curdling 8 pound battle cry and charged my friend's tent, and we had no idea the size of the animal at this point so the thoughts of hyena were pretty prevalent. The same night, we heard lions a few km from camp.

The wonders continued. Every day was a new sighting- groups of elephants (and one single elephant close up informing us of the 65lb weight and prehensile nature of the elephant penis), mock-fighting young male giraffees, even a lone young lion male on one hot afternoon. Good food, good company, time spent around the fire singing american pop music at night...

Next, we were off to Lake Manyara National Park, located in an area known as Mtowambu, or the River of Mosquitoes. Thank goodness for malaria medication... the park was incredible, and we were blessed with baboon, hippo, flamingo, impala, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, and a standoffish giraffe who blocked the road for a good 10 minutes one afternoon.

Now, during this entire time, an interesting battle was occuring in my right lower abdomen area, in the general location of my appendix. Increasingly, I was plauged by sharp pains and naseau, and by slight fever and bloating. Needless to say, it was insisted that I visit the doctor upon our return to Arusha, which in turn prompted the discovery of an "abnormal mass" in my side and an all-expenses paid trip (lies) to Nairobi, Kenya, to a world class hospital.

You must understand, this all occured within 12 hours of return from safari- we didn't eat much lunch, and just hopped in a car for the 5 hour drive. Upon arrival in Nairobi, and consultation with a doctor as he poked the sharp painful spot in my abdomen, it was determined that my only useless vestigial organ, the appendix, was horribly infected and destined to be removed from my body and sent to the useless organ pile in the sky.

Surgery occured within about 2 hours, at midnight on this lovely evening, and I proceeded to spend 2 weeks in the Nairobi hospital. "But wait", you say, "aren't you supposed to recover in 2 days from appendectomies? They aren't that serious of an operation!". And so God laughs at my stubborness, for I had put off the doctor's visit for about 2 weeks prior to the week on safari, inducing quite the extent of infection and therefore a more serious surgery. Snapshot: a normal appendix = 6mm long, jess's appendix = 23mm long. Any Questions?

So finally, after fighting fever, infection, naseau, new infection, and boredom (oh, the boredom), I was released from the hospital a few days ago, and have now returned to the group in Tanzania. And that, my dear friends, is why I have been MIA for the past 3 weeks. I'm doing fine now, feeling great and terribly bogged down by work... and I still love Africa!!

More to come...

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to look at this thing and to write me a comment or an email, I wish I could respond back individually but know that I am thinking about you and your questions every time you write, so keep up the comments!

Tanzania is amazing. Since the last time I wrote, I have learned a lot more kiswahili and have been able to interact with so many more people. We are heading out on safari this week to Terengerie National Park, to begin working on the ecology aspect of this program. So far I've been studying politics and globalization, which is a very interesting and hotly debated topic so look into the literature if you get a chance, especially into literature originating in the "3rd world" or in the "social majority". The pictures above are mostly of Mt Meru, the most amazing mountain that we are a bit of the way up in our homestay. The house is my homestay house.

There is so much to say and so little time... ok so every weekday I have 4 hours of kiswahili and tea in the morning, followed by lunch at the center that we take classes at and then I'm free to head home to my homestay family. I wash my laundry by hand, and get chased around by my little brothers and sisters. I bathe out of a bucket, and the bathroom in a hole. However, these things are all very normal by now, and thinking about just those small adjustments and how easy they were makes me think about what bigger adjustments I will make, or have made and haven't noticed yet. My family owns more than just the farms around my house, we own one out in another town where Baba lives, about 100 acres, and mama tells me that if I ever want to build anything and don't know where to do it, that I am welcome to her land here in Tanzania. I have a "brother" that has traveled to America, Europe, and Japan, and loves the simplicity of life back here, where he has a wife and 2 babies yet doesn't consider this a committed relationship. My mama will retire in 6 years, but will work every day and do more than most of us do in a week of work for a job. I cooked spaghetti over a fire and grilled cheese on a kerosene burner, and the family loved it and exclaimed that I must be so tired after all that cooking... I feel as though I am providing only a snapshot of this experience, and I know that I ramble... but hell, how do you talk about everything that is becoming so normal to me here and yet still every day instills in me a sense of awe and wonder...

Thats it for now... I love this place!!

Homestay adventures

Hello! Sorry no pictures this time, and if i miss some punctuation the keyboard is sucking. So, i began my homestay about 5 daya ago a quarter of the way up Mt. Meru, in a peri-urban village called bangata. My mama is a schoolteacher and so i am luckier that some people because she speaks decent english and can teach me kiswahili, rather than talk to me without me understanding. She is 53, and has 5 children who are grown, 2 of which are married and are our neighbors with their children, so lots of little grandkids running around. We own a few farms, one huge one that we live on that grown mango, coffee, bananas, passionfruit, veggies, etc... and another farm or 2 between bangata and arusha, where my father (baba) owns a grocery as well. I haven't met him yet beause he doesn't come home much from the grocery. we also have 3 cows, 3 chickens, and a dog who doesn't really like people. school is a half hour walk, basically uphill, every morning, and then i try to help with chores and study my kiswahili at night. we go to bed early- 9pm is late!!! we eat right before bed too, so i always wake up full still. the food is simple and delicious, a lot of maize and beans because of this tiny outbreak of the rift valley fever in the country, so no meat or milk allowed for now. nothing too bad, don't be worried!
so today is our day in town, and i went to the market which is a HUGE cornacopia of smells and things to buy- veggies, fruit, fish, meat, spices, maasai medicine, baskets, flour, rice, etc... its amazing, i will try to take a picture next time i am there because there is nothing like it! Speaking of the maasai, we visited a small boma (household compund) of a man with his 2 sons and their 7 or 8 wives, and all the cows and goats. the maasai are a proud people, standing tall and resplendant in their colours and traditions, and it is interesting to talk to them, though they speak kimaa and not kiswahili so the little i know doesnt help much. we do a homestay for 4 days with teh maasai in about a month, and i look forward to learning more though the communication will still be an issue. the power balance in the family is different too, with the men drinking beer and eating meat and standing by the cows all day while the women stay inside and cook, clean, care for children, build dung houses, and do everything else. no eye contact with men i think, and bowing heads for a greeting to the elder male. Very interesting, i am excited to be part of this for a bit of time. it is raining every day here, but it is beautiful and i am so excited to continue to learn as much as i can about this wonderful country. Pictures next time, sorry for the rambling! Quick note: try to read some literature on grassroots movements and "globilazation" by a "3rd world" writer- words used like "social majority". "social minority", good clue to look for...

Karibu Africa!

Karibu Africa! I don't know what I've been imagining, but this is better than any ideas that I've had of what Africa would be... and I've only been here 4 days. Today we return from the past 3 days in Enderekwai Ranch, a private game reserve owned by a mzungo (white person), Peter Jones. The pictures above are from the ranch- Mt. Meru on one side and Kiliminjaro on the other, and 10000 hectares in between of savannah. We put up our tents and had an amazing camp crew who will be taking care of us on all of our safaris. For those of you who are worried about me not getting enough to eat, think again: We have breakfast at 7, tea and biscuits at 1030, lunch at 1, tea AGAIN at 430, and dinner at 7. So I'm probly gaining weight. We were hiking, learning about the environmental conservation situation in Tanzania, and picking up a tiny bit of kiswahili. Now, we are in Arusha for 2 days and then we begin a homestay about 10 km from here, a quarter of the way up Mt. Meru, in a peri-urban village called Bagata. We will have almost no kiswahili under our belts, yet will be on our own with our familys for that entire weekend until we meet up again on Monday morning. Some of us may have running water and electricity, and some a hole in the ground and gas lamps, and I am very excited. The conversations have been intense so far, the group of kids I'm here with is great, and Baba Jack, our teacher, is one of the coolest people I've ever met. Baba means father, and Jack is his son's name, because as you become a parent in Tanzania it takes over your identity (his name is Reese Matthews). And it's only been 3 days... words don't do this place justice, but neither do the pictures, so check in again in 1 week and I'm sure this whole style will change... Kwa Herini!

Ready...Set...Go!

So today's the day. In about 4 hours I will be taking off from JFK airport, en route to London, then Nairobi, and finally Arusha, Tanzania. This is still all a bit surreal to me, that I'm about to leave the country for 7 months, take classes while on safari in Africa, and learn Swahili, not to mention travel around Europe, potentially by myself. I'm encouraged by my friend Hope's emails, as she just arrived in Uganda and has found support for this new leg of her journey in her friends' well wishes. Thanks to everyone who's given me support for this trip so far... and next time I write will be from Tanzania!

The first leg of the journey

So, today I woke up and got to face the first of what I am sure will be many adventures: packing. This was probably one of the most amusing things that I have done lately, as I tried to pack 6 or 7 months of things into one hiking backpack and a daypack. Needless to say, I am not bringing a lot of clothing and most of the big stuff (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad) is strapped to the outside of my bag, creating the appearance that I am carrying my home on my back. This isn't too far off, I guess. Then, my laptop went into my daypack, with the somewhat worrisome realization that I am bringing it almost soley as a storage device for the pictures on my digital camera. I hope I take enough pictures to make it worth lugging to Tanzania and paying duty tax on it. I'm starting to get pretty excited for this adventure, and I may even have found a traveling buddy for Europe this upcoming summer (Yay Shelley!!). I'm still hoping that my best friend from home, Marge, can make it, but money's tight and if she can't I'll still love her (I guesssss). So, now its off to 4 days in NYC, and then I take to the air on Thursday night!

Dominican Republic

So, as many of you know, I recently went to the Dominican Republic (Jan 8-18). There are a few pictures above that capture a very small bit of an amazing trip. The first is part of the family that we stayed with, the second is a street near where they lived, the third a wonderful woman we met, and the last of course of the beach. I never knew how much I took for granted running water, specifically a flushing toilet, lol. Anyway, the trip was really a learning experience. No one spoke a word of english... except of course for my friend Mike, who I traveled with, who speaks spanish fluently (the woman in the first pic is his girlfriend), and I met a million people who would start talking to me until I looked confused enough that they'd figure out that I had no idea what they were saying. The electricity was come and go, so we spent many nights sitting by candlelight on someone's "porch" for hours, just chatting. Rum was cheaper than beer, and the music and the dancing was so much fun. I hated the rooster that woke me up at 4am every morning...and then the water trucks that woke me up at 6... the kids playing in the street at 8am... lol so I didn't sleep much, but everything else was great!. I can't wait to go back... next winter I think. Anyone want to come?

One more note: I'm looking for someone who wants to work in London with me next summer, and then spend a month traveling around Europe. No experience necessary, and you don't need much money either! If this person is you, drop me an email :)

Opening Day...

The long awaited, much spoken of, Jess's traveling blog has been born. Let's have a rousing round of happy birthday on 3....
No, just kidding, but welcome to my blog! The primary purpose of this piece of "literature" is to inform you, my dearest friends, colleagues, and others (D$), of my adventures in the wild world... and to make you just the littlest bit jealous, of course. I hope to provide humor, commentary on life, or at the very least some cool pictures of "the world" on this webpage, so stay tuned for some updates and keep in touch!