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!