The good and the bad of vacation

Yay!  Electricity and internet access!  We have been out of power all week and it has been so frustrating.  I swear, when I get back to the states I will never take reliable Internet for granted again.  On the one hand, its nice to be somewhat disconnected from social media.. no constant checking of texts, facebook notifications, email, etc.  Its kind of freeing to not be so dependent on technology, and it allows me to be fully engaged in the every day life I am experiencing, rather than constantly having my face buried in an iphone or laptop.  On the other hand, its REALLY hard to get used to the lack of connectivity.  If I want to call my mom or friend, there is no internet to call with.  If my phone dies and I want to listen to music, the power goes down and I can’t charge anything.  If I want to clean or cook past 6:30, there are no lights so I just have to go to bed.  It has taken me three days alone to upload this blog post... But I guess that is life in rural Africa.  Its an adventure, that’s for sure!

Our beautiful resort

Ok rant over, I am just thankful I am able to update everyone on what has been going on lately.  As most of you know, I will be teaching at the private school here in Berega (i.e. the only non-government school, and therefore the only acceptable one) but the children go on summer break from July 1 til the middle of August, so me and Scott took this opportunity to travel for a bit.  We first went to Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania, and it was INCREDIBLE!  After months of planning for my year in Africa, stressing about money, traveling nonstop, and adjusting to life in Tanzania, this was a very welcomed vacation.  The water in the Indian ocean is the clearest blue I’ve ever seen, the sand was so soft, the ocean breeze wonderfully relaxing, not to mention the food was delicious.... we had legit homemade Italian pizza almost every day. It was true paradise.  I spent my 26^th birthday on the island (yikes!) and for the best birthday gift ever, Scott and I went swimming with dolphins at the southernmost tip of Zanzibar.  These were wild, bottle nosed dolphins and they were everywhere, swimming and dancing and playing with their young.  We got so close to them we could reach out and touch them!  It was seriously a dream come true, so amazing.

Me and Scott standing in the middle of the ocean at low tide

The water at high tide

Full moon at sunset!

We also went on a spice tour; for those who don’t know Zanzibar is a huge hub for naturally grown spices.  We saw where they grow cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, lemon grass, and lots more.  It was really neat and we got to buy a ton of spices for home, which should hopefully add some flavor to our standard meal of rice and beans.  Lastly, we visited Stonetown which is a very historic and beautiful town right near the ferry port.  Overall, we had a blast in Zanzibar and cannot wait to go back!

Me drinking from the biggest coconut ever

He's cutting cinnamon bark off this tree,
it smelled so good!

Scott and I were made King and Queen of the forest,
complete with crowns made out of banana tree leaves

Home of Freddie Mercury, y'all!

Unfortunately, this is one reason why Zanzinbar is historic

Market in Stone Town

I’m going to add a side note here to talk about the transportation in Africa.  Up until our vacation, we had been getting around by the Hands4Africa driver, Abdallah, who is wonderful.  He took us to Dar Es Salaam, where we flew to Zanzibar (only a 20 minute flight).  On the way back, however, we took a ferry… the cheaper way to go and for good reason.  It. Was. Awful. The boat was going so fast it literally flew over waves and rocked so hard, people were falling out of their seats.  I ended up getting so sick I blacked out and someone nearly carried me to the back of the boat to throw up for the remainder of the ride.  Needless to say, I will NOT be taking the ferry again...  When we got off the ferry port, we were bombarded with 50 taxi drivers trying to pull us into their cabs and yelling Swahili at us.  We tried to escape them but I still felt sick and didn't feel like walking, so we agreed to have one of the drivers take us to the bus station.  Well at first, he was only going to charge 10,000 tsh (about $6) which was fine, but when we got to our destination he demanded 30,000.. and we said no, we agreed on 10,000 but he would not leave us alone until we gave him the money.  Everyone just wants money from us here!!  And when you refuse they can get kind of scary... It isn't like that in the village though, just in the bigger towns.  To get from Dar to Arusha, the best way is to take a bus.  We knew the state of buses in Africa is less than acceptable, so we even paid 10,000 extra shillings to get the ‘luxury’ bus.  Let me tell you what luxury is here in Africa.  Hot air blowing on us that was supposed to be air conditioning, absolutely no room between seats so I had to fold my legs in half and push them against the seat in front of me while a metal bar stuck into my shins the whole ride, BLARING African Christian music in Swahili that was so loud Scott couldn't hear me in the next seat over, and stale snacks for sale that were twice as much as the store.  This was how we got to Arusha, almost 11 hours later.  But I guess its part of the experience!  Once in Arusha, the main way to get around was by dala dala (mini bus) or by piki piki (motorbike).  The dala dalas, as we knew from last summer, are the cheapest way to get around but are so crowded, you are likely to have someone’s butt in your face while you are smashed between multiple people's armpits (and they don't wear deodorant here) and five people are hanging out of the door.  Personal space is definitely not a concept in Africa. The dala dala  also stops every 3 minutes to let someone on or off so everyone has to pile out to let one person off and somehow find a way to let six more people in.  After awhile, this got exhausting so the last few days we used piki pikis which can be quite dangerous but are way more fun and comfortable.  They drive so fast and there aren’t many traffic laws in Africa, or any that I can see, but as long as I don’t open my eyes too often its fine. Man do I really miss driving my own car...

Piki piki from last summer

As for our time spent in Arusha…well we were supposed to be there for two weeks but after one week we were so ready to get back to the village.  First of all, it was very expensive paying for the hotel room, transportation, every meal, and every bottle of water.  Second of all, Arusha is way too busy and fast paced.  Last year it had seemed so rural compared to America, but compared to Berega it was like New York City.  Besides the fact that there’s way more people to stare and point at you, there are also more people trying to get money from you, either by begging or trying to sell you something, or even just following you around acting as a tour guide even though you never asked for one.  After they walk with you for awhile, they will ask for 50,000 shillings and you are like….um noooo.  But because you are mzungu, they will try to take advantage of you. I guess they have just learned that white people are ignorant and will them all their money.

Even though Arusha was expensive and exhausting, I am so very glad we went for two reasons.  The first is that I got to go to three meetings while I was there!  All my good friends will know how incredibly important that was for me… a month without meetings and fellowship had been incredibly difficult, especially while going through so many changes all at once.  My first meeting there was about 10 people, half of whom spoke English, so it was half English and half Swahili.  I did not even care when they were speaking another language, it was just such a relief to be in a room full of people I could relate to and who understood how I felt.  I cried the whole time, I felt so blessed to be in that room.  There were also two women who were so wonderful and friendly to me, and gave me their contact information so I wouldn’t feel so alone in Tanzania.  I also managed to buy some literature in Swahili so hopefully, I can start a meeting or class on alcoholism here in the village.  Even just for educational purposes, I think it could be really beneficial.  Not just for them, but for me too!  I have to keep up that service work! :) 

The sweetest girl ever, Veronica

The other reason I was really glad to go to Arusha is because I got to visit the orphanage I volunteered at last summer.  Those children are the reason I fell in love with Africa (and all my fellow IVHQ volunteers, I miss you guys!) and I could not wait to see them again!  I was so surprised when I got there, the kids didn’t look nearly as ill as they did last year, they had decent clothes on, even electricity had been installed and they had a tv!  I guess one year of  volunteers had done them a lot of good, I was so happy to see how well they were doing.  So I went to the orphanage every day of the week, and played with them, brought them toys and books, read them stories about Jesus and how much He loves them, and I just hugged and kissed them over and over.  The thing those children need more than anything in the world is just love and affection. (They miss you Hannah Ring!)  The kids especially loved Scott, he chased them and threw them over his shoulder, they used him like a jungle gym- he was so great with them.  My favorite little girl, Veronica, would not leave my side the whole time I was there and it took all the will power I had not to take her back to Berega with me.  She is the most beautiful, loving child I have ever had the privilege of knowing, but I know God is watching over her and the other children, taking care of them.  I am just thankful I got the chance to see them again!  I think I will go back over Christmas on our next break and bring them something special….

Me reading stories about Jesus to the children

They kept begging Scott over and over to throw them around

So another 10 hour excruciating bus ride to Morogoro, a two hour ride in the car with Abdallah, and we arrived safely back in the village of Berega Saturday night.  We were so glad to be home..well my home here in Africa.  And Liz, the other teacher at St. Mary’s, gets back this week too and I am so excited to meet her!   There will also be two more English women here who will be working in the hospital for 6 weeks and I am looking forward to meeting them as well… as for right now though, me and Scott are the only wazungu in the village, but I couldn't be happier to be here.  Oh yea, I forgot to talk about the orphanage in Berega again.... oh well, next time for sure!  That’s all for now, will write again soon!

They have the most amazing smiles in the world