Well, here it is everyone, my last blog post in Kenya. This is such a bittersweet moment for me, and over the last few days there are many things that happened that reminded me on why I will miss this place.
Tuesday night, Ken, the guy who runs my internship program invited some friends over and he made me this huge dinner with chapati, ndengu, beef stew, cabbage, sukuma wiki and then my friend Maggie made guacamole. We got to sit around and talk about my experience here, and he was also really appreciative of my work with his program. It was great to sit and laugh with friends about all my ridiculous stories from this trip.
Yesterday, after hanging with some friends at Java, I went back to the school where I worked with the kids from Kibera. They wanted to say thank you, so they sang me a goodbye song in Swahili to send me off.
Today, after turning in some papers, almost everyone from my program went out to lunch to this amazing Indian restaurant and had a great time. Not only did I find a new love in Indian food, but it was great for us to just sit around and laugh together about the time we've spent and what we'll do in the future.
This afternoon, I met up with a couple of my good friends, Khou and Peaches. We just sat and had some coffee and talked about life for a little while. O, how I will miss these people. It's getting harder and harder for me to say bye to people.
As much as I've wanted to go home over the past couple weeks, there is this part of my life I've experienced over the past almost four months that will have a lifelong impact on me, and I will truly miss this place. In terms of things I've learned from this program:
-How to relax: I am mildly obsessive about the things that happen in my life, whether it's the food I eat or what happens to me on a daily basis. While stuff has happened to me here, I learned to do things like not ask what I was eating, and turned out ok. I remember my first meal at my homestay, my host sister made pasta and then poured tap water over the noodles to stop them from cooking. I just sat there and prayed that I wouldn't get sick, and I ended up being ok.
-How to get stuff: In all honesty, I will truly miss bargaining. I think I've found a little self confidence, but I've also learned to not let people walk over me because it's the easy response.
-How to communicate: While I've found people in Nairobi to actually speak English quite well, there's still a bit of a language barrier. You have to learn how to work with other people, understand where they're coming from and what they understand, and go from there as to how to best portray and discuss information with one another. And I had to pick up and use some Swahili, Kenyan accent and Kenyanisms.
-How to roll with bad situations: It seemed like a lot of things did not go to plan on this trip. I remember after a weekend of ridiculous things happening, just laughing at everything that had happened. At some point, I just started to look at all the things that happened to me as potential stories to share with my friends and family about my epic journey in Kenya and Tanzania.
-How to be patient: Eiiisscchh (this is my Kenyanness), how many times did I wait over an hour for someone to show up? I've learned to be patient and when someone showed up within 15 minutes of when they said they would, being excited about it.
-Rely on God: This is by far the most important thing I've learned. While this is still a growing process for me, and something I continuously struggle with, I've had to rely on him for safety, security and understanding. This is new to me, and something I'm glad I got to experience.
In addition to these things I've learned, there are also some things I will really miss about Kenya:
-Amazingly nice people
-My friends
-Children running up to you, and while I hated when they called me mzungu, I loved it when they would say: How are YOU?
-Going to Java and getting to know the waitstaff there
-The randomly satisfying thought of seeing your feet and pants covered in mud and dirt after a day of working in Kibera
-When people stared at me when I would respond to their question in Swahili.
-BARGAINING!!! And talking down touts on buses and matatus
-Randomly having things happen to me. Trust me, I've got enough stories for a while after this trip
-My Kenyanisms and Kenyan accent
-Talking with people about how life in America isn't as glamorous as it looks in all the movies
-Hearing hip-hop music everywhere
-Laughing at the ridiculous things I see: animals walking around, people peeing in random places (including a lady one time!), the stuff people would wear (including a guy wearing a flag promoting the Confederate flag?!?), the things people would try to sell me (a tiny piece of sugar cane out of a guy's pocket for 10 shillings)
-Again, the people I've met and made amazing relationships with
So, here I sit, almost done, and about to embark on another journey to take me halfway around the world again. I thank you all for your love and support over the course of the last 3.5 months and I hope you all know how much I appreciate all of you. I hope you have a great weekend, and God Bless! Kwaheri yote! Napenda nyinyi na nitaona nyinyi katika Amerika!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Finishing up the Semester
Yesterday was the last official day of the semester for me! Over the weekend, we had exams and seminars at a place called the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi.
On Saturday, everyone returned from all over the country from their internships to come back to Nairobi for our final exams. Sunday afternoon, we moved into the Guest House, which is basically just a hotel, and took our first exam Sunday afternoon. Our first final was on development, which wasn't too bad. Sunday night, we got to experience our first dinner at the Guest House. Let's just say I was a little excited about the fact that we got a buffet, and our program covered all the fees! However, I was bummed by how much my stomach has shrunk, and how little I can eat. But hopefully, I can stretch that out over the next couple days to prepare me for eating back home.
Monday, we had our exam for Country Analysis, also not too bad. We bummed around the hotel Monday night, tired after our last couple days. Yesterday, we had our final seminar work for the semester. We went around the group and talked about our internships and then had lunch (all the meals were buffets!). Then we did some discussion about re-entry into the U.S. and reverse culture shock. Last night, we had dinner at the hotel, I did some work on my papers, and then I met some people at a restaurant to have a drink and chill out as our last night together in Nairobi.
I woke up this morning, had breakfast and moved back into my homestay. Needing some clean clothes for my last week, I did my last set of laundry by hand!! Now, I'm editing a couple papers away from being completely finished. I leave this country in three days, this is crazy! I cannot wait to see you all and talk about our lives for the past few months. I hope you're all doing well and God Bless!
On Saturday, everyone returned from all over the country from their internships to come back to Nairobi for our final exams. Sunday afternoon, we moved into the Guest House, which is basically just a hotel, and took our first exam Sunday afternoon. Our first final was on development, which wasn't too bad. Sunday night, we got to experience our first dinner at the Guest House. Let's just say I was a little excited about the fact that we got a buffet, and our program covered all the fees! However, I was bummed by how much my stomach has shrunk, and how little I can eat. But hopefully, I can stretch that out over the next couple days to prepare me for eating back home.
Monday, we had our exam for Country Analysis, also not too bad. We bummed around the hotel Monday night, tired after our last couple days. Yesterday, we had our final seminar work for the semester. We went around the group and talked about our internships and then had lunch (all the meals were buffets!). Then we did some discussion about re-entry into the U.S. and reverse culture shock. Last night, we had dinner at the hotel, I did some work on my papers, and then I met some people at a restaurant to have a drink and chill out as our last night together in Nairobi.
I woke up this morning, had breakfast and moved back into my homestay. Needing some clean clothes for my last week, I did my last set of laundry by hand!! Now, I'm editing a couple papers away from being completely finished. I leave this country in three days, this is crazy! I cannot wait to see you all and talk about our lives for the past few months. I hope you're all doing well and God Bless!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
One Week
So I'm sitting here in Java (again...) doing some work and studying for the exams I have coming up in the next few days. In one week from right now, I will be somewhere in the air between Nairobi and London. This is absolutely crazy to me. I have no idea where the last three or so months have gone.
So, because of a job interview, my uncle has had to cancel our trip to Europe. I was looking forward to spending the week with him. Despite that, I am really excited TO SEE EVERYONE IN ONE WEEK!!!!!
I remember back to a post I did earlier in the semester where I talked about not really realizing how soon my time in Kenya was coming to a close, yesterday it finally clicked. I was chatting with my sister Elise online, and I told her I would see her in a week. Suddenly, the concept made sense in my head. One week!
While I've had a good time here, and will miss it when I get home, I am more than excited to see everyone back home. I'm kind of at that point where my body is just ready to go. I'm looking forward to the moment when I get through customs at O'Hare and finally see my family. There are times where it feels like I've been here a long time or a short time, but no matter what, I feel like I've not seen my family and friends for a long time.
So as I start finishing up everything for my program (papers, exams, internship, which ended yesterday) I begin to realize that I get to do what I've wanted to do for basically the entire time I've been here. Spend time with the people I love! See you guys soon!
So, because of a job interview, my uncle has had to cancel our trip to Europe. I was looking forward to spending the week with him. Despite that, I am really excited TO SEE EVERYONE IN ONE WEEK!!!!!
I remember back to a post I did earlier in the semester where I talked about not really realizing how soon my time in Kenya was coming to a close, yesterday it finally clicked. I was chatting with my sister Elise online, and I told her I would see her in a week. Suddenly, the concept made sense in my head. One week!
While I've had a good time here, and will miss it when I get home, I am more than excited to see everyone back home. I'm kind of at that point where my body is just ready to go. I'm looking forward to the moment when I get through customs at O'Hare and finally see my family. There are times where it feels like I've been here a long time or a short time, but no matter what, I feel like I've not seen my family and friends for a long time.
So as I start finishing up everything for my program (papers, exams, internship, which ended yesterday) I begin to realize that I get to do what I've wanted to do for basically the entire time I've been here. Spend time with the people I love! See you guys soon!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Getting my Djembe Drum
My parents can tell you I've always been a drummer. If I'm bored in a car, you'll hear me tapping along to a beat, and I've also been known to break a fish tank because I hit it with drum sticks....
Anyways, so since I was about 14 years old, I've wanted to get a hand drum called a djembe. It comes in various sizes, but is about 2 feet tall, and you play it like a conga, but instead it goes between your knees. So since I'm in Kenya, I figured what better place to buy a drum than in Africa?? Easier said than done.
I first tried to get a djembe about 5-6 weeks ago when I went to my first market. While I thoroughly enjoy bargaining, getting this drum has been a serious process. My first attempt to get a drum from the market started out with guys trying to sell me a drum from 12,000 shillings to, my personal favorite, 40,000. I talked some guys down to about 8,000, but I was not satisfied.
So, I went back...repeatedly. I talked to one guy who sold drums three different times, and another five! The guy I talked to five different times was a serious project, but after over a month of bargaining and me paying a bit more than I initially wanted, I finally got my djembe last Sunday!
When I first started talking to this guy, he started at about 14,000 shillings. I went to his station on Saturday and got him down to 5,500, but I knew I shouldn't pay that much. One of the girls in my program, Kiersten, also wanted to buy a drum before she left. So on Sunday, we went to the same market at a different location, we talked to him and the lowest he could go was 10,000 for two. So at this point we're both frustrated and walk away.
As I was leaving the market in the parking lot, the guy came and found me! He said he was giving us a deal, and I told him we were giving him an outrageously good deal at two for 7,000. So he offered 9,000, I said no, then he went to 8,000, he said no, and then he went to 7,000. At this point he was going down quickly, so I tried to see if I could go lower, which I couldn't.
I told him that we still didn't really want to pay that much, so I told him no. But then, after calling Kiersten, we decided we could settle at that price. SO, after over a month of bargaining and a bit of settling for me, I FINALLY GOT MY DRUM! Now I have to get it home....
Anyways, so since I was about 14 years old, I've wanted to get a hand drum called a djembe. It comes in various sizes, but is about 2 feet tall, and you play it like a conga, but instead it goes between your knees. So since I'm in Kenya, I figured what better place to buy a drum than in Africa?? Easier said than done.
I first tried to get a djembe about 5-6 weeks ago when I went to my first market. While I thoroughly enjoy bargaining, getting this drum has been a serious process. My first attempt to get a drum from the market started out with guys trying to sell me a drum from 12,000 shillings to, my personal favorite, 40,000. I talked some guys down to about 8,000, but I was not satisfied.
So, I went back...repeatedly. I talked to one guy who sold drums three different times, and another five! The guy I talked to five different times was a serious project, but after over a month of bargaining and me paying a bit more than I initially wanted, I finally got my djembe last Sunday!
When I first started talking to this guy, he started at about 14,000 shillings. I went to his station on Saturday and got him down to 5,500, but I knew I shouldn't pay that much. One of the girls in my program, Kiersten, also wanted to buy a drum before she left. So on Sunday, we went to the same market at a different location, we talked to him and the lowest he could go was 10,000 for two. So at this point we're both frustrated and walk away.
As I was leaving the market in the parking lot, the guy came and found me! He said he was giving us a deal, and I told him we were giving him an outrageously good deal at two for 7,000. So he offered 9,000, I said no, then he went to 8,000, he said no, and then he went to 7,000. At this point he was going down quickly, so I tried to see if I could go lower, which I couldn't.
I told him that we still didn't really want to pay that much, so I told him no. But then, after calling Kiersten, we decided we could settle at that price. SO, after over a month of bargaining and a bit of settling for me, I FINALLY GOT MY DRUM! Now I have to get it home....
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Leaving Soon/Things To Do
As I sit in my room this Saturday evening attempting to get some work done on my assignments and papers, I'm coming to the realization that in two weeks from this moment, I will be somewhere in the greater London area. It's absolutely crazy to me that this program is ending so quickly, and to see how I am now (Which is a bit more Kenyan. I talked down the price of my hotel room in London!) Despite how soon I'm leaving, I'm already creating a list of things I have to do when I get home in my head. I'm going to miss it here, but there are definitely things I have to do when I get home, which include:
-Spend time with my family and friends
-Go see my grandparents
-Go hiking/camping at Devil's Lake
-Go eat the food I've been missing all semester (Qdoba Chicken Queso burrito, Coldstone Birthday Cake Remix gotta have it, Starbucks)
-Read "Harry Potter"
-Watch ridiculous movies with friends and family
-Go have a beer on the Union terrace while listening to live music
-Drive around rural Wisconsin at dusk
-Go running at nighttime
-Have coffee readily available every day
-Go swim laps
-Eat cheese and brats
-Go to the Madison Farmer's Market, WHERE, I will eat Stella's Bakery Hot Spicy Cheese bread
-Catch up on missed episodes of "The Office"
-Have a card game night with friends, which will include excessive yelling
These are a few of the things I've missed while being here. It's a lot to get done in the three weeks before I go to work at Okoboji Bible camp, but I will try my hardest. I look forward to what the next month and a half have in store for me. I miss you all and God Bless!
-Spend time with my family and friends
-Go see my grandparents
-Go hiking/camping at Devil's Lake
-Go eat the food I've been missing all semester (Qdoba Chicken Queso burrito, Coldstone Birthday Cake Remix gotta have it, Starbucks)
-Read "Harry Potter"
-Watch ridiculous movies with friends and family
-Go have a beer on the Union terrace while listening to live music
-Drive around rural Wisconsin at dusk
-Go running at nighttime
-Have coffee readily available every day
-Go swim laps
-Eat cheese and brats
-Go to the Madison Farmer's Market, WHERE, I will eat Stella's Bakery Hot Spicy Cheese bread
-Catch up on missed episodes of "The Office"
-Have a card game night with friends, which will include excessive yelling
These are a few of the things I've missed while being here. It's a lot to get done in the three weeks before I go to work at Okoboji Bible camp, but I will try my hardest. I look forward to what the next month and a half have in store for me. I miss you all and God Bless!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Feeling Normal
It's been a long time since my last post, about a week. That's most likely because at this point in my semester, I truly feel like living here is normal. I've become more accustomed to life here than I originally thought I would, and the things that stuck out for me before do not necessarily still strike me as odd.
An interaction I had last week exemplifies how situations have become more normal for me than they would have a few weeks ago. Leaving work in Kibera, I walked up to a tout of a bus and asked him how much I should pay to get to a stage I needed to get to. He said 30 bob (shillings) when I knew it was 10. I told him the stage name again and he kept the price at 30. So I clicked at him and started to walk away and he dropped the price down to 10. Ken, the guy who runs Filamujuani, just started laughing and asked if I bargained the tout down. He was amused that I just bargained down as a foreigner. That is one thing I'm proud of is my new ability to be a bargainer, but I guess there's some stubborn blood in my family so that might be why. I got a few compliments on my bargaining skills last weekend at a market.
Things like this are the norm for me, and I am not entirely how I feel about leaving yet. As I told my family, I do not feel like Nairobi is a place I would enjoy living in long term. I am, however, VERY happy that I did this program and feel like I've learned a lot in my time here.
So as I sit in my room and think that I leave in two and a half weeks before meeting up with my uncle Larry in Europe, the idea is not really clicking in my brain. At this point, this is where I am, and I don't feel like I will truly understand that I will leave 3 1/2 months of my life behind until I get on the plane home.
This seems to be a common theme for me. I often don't realize these things are truly happening until the moment they actually happen. I remember feeling fine leaving Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp in Colorado where I worked the summer after my junior year of high school, and on my way to O'Hare to leave for here. Both times, I was ok. But as I got to the point where I suddenly was by myself in the airport and realized the drastic change that was about to happen in my life, suddenly everything seemed to click. I can to the realization that my life would not be the same, and in some ways that was good, scary, exciting, etc. But it was most definitely different. I imagine something similar to that will happen as I say goodbye to friends in the Nairobi airport May 1st.
But for now, I feel today is just another day in Nairobi. Also, I ask that you all pray for my dad as he's going into surgery tomorrow for his knee, that God can bless the surgery in his will.
I want to thank you all for following my blog the last almost three months. In some ways, leaving seems so far ago, and other times just like a few days. Regardless, I appreciate all the help and support I've received from home. I truly appreciate all of you, and hope you have a great rest of your week. God Bless!
An interaction I had last week exemplifies how situations have become more normal for me than they would have a few weeks ago. Leaving work in Kibera, I walked up to a tout of a bus and asked him how much I should pay to get to a stage I needed to get to. He said 30 bob (shillings) when I knew it was 10. I told him the stage name again and he kept the price at 30. So I clicked at him and started to walk away and he dropped the price down to 10. Ken, the guy who runs Filamujuani, just started laughing and asked if I bargained the tout down. He was amused that I just bargained down as a foreigner. That is one thing I'm proud of is my new ability to be a bargainer, but I guess there's some stubborn blood in my family so that might be why. I got a few compliments on my bargaining skills last weekend at a market.
Things like this are the norm for me, and I am not entirely how I feel about leaving yet. As I told my family, I do not feel like Nairobi is a place I would enjoy living in long term. I am, however, VERY happy that I did this program and feel like I've learned a lot in my time here.
So as I sit in my room and think that I leave in two and a half weeks before meeting up with my uncle Larry in Europe, the idea is not really clicking in my brain. At this point, this is where I am, and I don't feel like I will truly understand that I will leave 3 1/2 months of my life behind until I get on the plane home.
This seems to be a common theme for me. I often don't realize these things are truly happening until the moment they actually happen. I remember feeling fine leaving Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp in Colorado where I worked the summer after my junior year of high school, and on my way to O'Hare to leave for here. Both times, I was ok. But as I got to the point where I suddenly was by myself in the airport and realized the drastic change that was about to happen in my life, suddenly everything seemed to click. I can to the realization that my life would not be the same, and in some ways that was good, scary, exciting, etc. But it was most definitely different. I imagine something similar to that will happen as I say goodbye to friends in the Nairobi airport May 1st.
But for now, I feel today is just another day in Nairobi. Also, I ask that you all pray for my dad as he's going into surgery tomorrow for his knee, that God can bless the surgery in his will.
I want to thank you all for following my blog the last almost three months. In some ways, leaving seems so far ago, and other times just like a few days. Regardless, I appreciate all the help and support I've received from home. I truly appreciate all of you, and hope you have a great rest of your week. God Bless!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Another African Adventure
What's a trip in Africa without a bit of adventure?! It seems like every time I want to do something here, something exciting/ridiculous happens. This weekend certainly did not disappoint.
This weekend, myself and my friends Maggie and Julie made the long journey from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by bus, and eventually to the island of Zanzibar by ferry. If you ever go to Africa, please stop in Tanzania and make your way out to Zanzibar. It is absolutely beautiful. I loved this part of Africa.
A taxi picked Julie and I up Friday morning at 6 to get down to the bus station. We got there a bit before 6:30, when we were supposed to get on for our 7 o'clock bus to Dar. We met Maggie there, and waited...Finally a bus showed up at 7:15ish and looked really nice. But after everyone on the bus got off, it drove away, ruining our dreams of having the nice bus for our trip. At about 7:40, our bus finally showed up, and we left Nairobi a little before 8. I'm ready to be done with Kenya time.
The road coming up to the border of Kenya and Tanzania is not good. We made it to immigration, got stamped out of Kenya, walked across the border, and thoroughly enjoyed the immigration officer yelling "Three Americans! Three Americans!" when he finalized our passports and stamps in Tanzania. We got back on the bus and the bumpy road continued until we got to the Tanzanian city of Arusha. Arusha and the next town over, Moshi, are very nice. You can also see Mt. Kilimanjaro from this area, but it was cloudy, so we could not unfortunately see it.
Our bus stopped in Moshi, and all three of us went to the bathroom. When I came out, I heard a bus driving away, and I had heard some horror stories from people I know here about buses leaving people at stops. So I ran out and saw another bus leaving the station, but it was not ours. Well, I thought it wasn't ours. Julie and Maggie came running off our bus with our stuff, yelling at me that our bus had just left. Supposedly they told the front of our bus that we were transferring buses in Moshi, but we did not hear it sitting toward the back. So I grabbed my bag quick from Julie and started running after the bus. My bag was still open, so things were falling out and people were yelling at me to stop. Fortunately, the lady at the bus station called the bus back and we got on, along with another lady they left. Maggie was on her a-game, grabbing my jacket off the other bus!
So we went for a while, a long while. And while this part of Tanzania is beautiful with long stretches of savannah interrupted with small mountains with rock faces and fields of aloe plants, we had another problem. It started raining. At one point, I felt like the bus drove through a small river on the road, and we passed an accident where a semi flipped on its side. Luckily, we made our way safely through the rain. But according to the bus line, our ride would be about 14 hours....it was definitely over 16.
So, after midnight we finally came into Dar. We were confused, however, as to which bus stop we should get off at as there are two. So luckily, Maggie has internet on her phone, so we could call the hostel, make sure we could still come in at that time and what stop to get off at. We got off at the right stop, found a cab and made our way to our hostel.
When we walked in, the place looked a bit sketchy. But our room was more than suitable for the night. It had recently been refurbished, so when we walked in, there was an ok bathroom, three beds, a pretty big flat screen tv, and our favorite part, AIR CONDITIONING!!! We were more than excited to sleep after the long day.
We woke up the next morning, and met the travel agent for the hostel. He was super helpful all morning, taking us to breakfast, an ATM, and then by cab to the bus stop, and finally the port where we booked our tickets to take the ferry from Dar to Zanzibar.
We got on the ferry, and that was another fun adventure. The ferry was pretty big, and could probably carry a couple hundred people. Maggie and I watched this ridiculous movie they showed while Julie went up on the deck to catch the view. This was all while the lady across the aisle from me got motion sickness and vomited twice, and then for some reason ate chips, and then vomited again. We finally got into Zanzibar a couple hours later.
After going through immigration at Zanzibar, we met a guy who we could rent a car through. Maggie has her international driver's license, so we were able to get a car instead of taking a taxi, saving us money as the the drive was about an hour from the port at Stone Town to our hotel. Unfortunately, Maggie didn't have her international driver's license on her, so we had to go to the Zanzibar license place, and she got a driving permit for a week. After getting that, we finally were on the island, ready to go.
We made our way first through Stone Town, an old city that's the hub of Zanzibar with a strong classic European feel to it with small roads and three story buildings providing walkways to people going from shop to shop. As we moved out of Stone Town, we got to see the beautiful landscape of the island. Palm trees were everywhere, with small villages along the way. We also found out that A TON of people bike or moped their way around, and they're mildly insane.
About an hour later, we found our way to the little village of Paje on the east coast of the island. We made our way to the hotel, checked in, and went out to the beach. Here, we met up with some of the people in Julie and mine's program who came to Zanzibar from Mombasa. It was great to see them.
When we walked out on the beach, we were amazed by the beautiful ongoing white sand beaches, bright blue water, old wooden boats offshore and relaxed feel of the island. O yea, and there was a rainbow over the water!!! Not a bad way to be greeted to tropical paradise after a long trek. We swam for a while, showered, grabbed some dinner, and then we fell asleep early after a long day of travel.
We woke up Sunday morning and made our way down to the beach. After a bit of journaling, I grabbed breakfast with some other people, and then my friend and I made our way to a restaurant/resort next door where we had a great little drink in their pool that was surrounded by green plants with these beautiful white flowers. Then we made our way back to the beach and hung out until about noon. The water here is protected by coral reef a few hundred yards offshore, so Maggie and I swam out about 1/4 mile from the beach, and because of the low tide could stand up.
After noon, Maggie, Julie and I got ready, said good bye, and made the hour long drive back to Stone Town. We bummed around the city for a while, doing some shopping and seeing the old city. After a quick lunch, we made it in time for our ferry back to Dar. The dock was INSANE, filled with people trying to get on boats.
The boat we got on back to Dar was a bigger ferry than our original, and that meant more people. But also, the waves were worse, so I started getting a bit of motion sickness. Luckily, I made my way to the back of the boat, where I stood for almost the entirety of the ride, watching the sun set over the expanse of ocean. It was absolutely beautiful.
We docked in Dar, and Maggie was not feeling well, so we made our way back to the hostel we stayed in two nights before, and then Julie and I went out for dinner. Being Easter Sunday, most places were closed, including Subway! When getting money from an ATM at a mall in Dar, I saw a sign for Subway, the first American restaurant I've seen in Africa. We tried to make it for dinner Sunday night, but it was already closed. So Julie and I ended up at this hotel restaurant in the same building that served: creole/New Orleans food?!? In Dar es Salaam?? Anyway, we grabbed dinner, made our way back to the hostel, and fell asleep.
We woke up at 4:15 yesterday morning to catch our 5 o'clock bus. Unfortunately Maggie was not feeling better, so she won my "Keep Fighting" award for the weekend, enduring the bus ride despite being fairly ill. We left at 5, went to the second bus stop, and left Dar at 6:30. We made our way across Tanzania, and this time, got to see Mt. Kilmanjaro!! This was one of the three things I wanted to do in Africa: Visit Mombasa, go to Masai Mara and see Mt. Kilimanjaro.
While we could only see the peak as the rest of the mountain was covered with clouds ,it was an absolutely beautiful sight. I would love to hike it, but the cost is a bit high..about $1000. So, I decided that at some point in my life, I'm going to come back and hike that thing. But the view of the snow covered peak rising above the clouds is amazing (and seeing snow in Africa is a bit odd...)
We drove the rest of the way through Tanzania and went through immigration, and made our way back into Kenya. As we drove about 5 minutes from the border, I looked out, and could see Mt. Kilimanjaro in its entirety. I was so excited to see the whole thing, and that's how we closed our trip, seeing the sun set over Mt. Kilimanjaro.
This trip taught me a lot, mostly to trust in God. I am someone who wants everything finalized way ahead of time, and when things don't go well, I tend to stress out big time. That happened more than enough times this weekend, but it seems like every time that happened, I saw a rainbow. We saw three on our drive through Tanzania and then two when we arrived at our place in Zanzibar. I repeatedly heard God telling me that I need to stop being so concerned and worried about everything, and to just slow down and trust what he has in store for me. As we closed our trip looking at Kilimanjaro, all I could think of was Bebo Norman's "Walk Down This Mountain" and what God taught me this last weekend. So I'll leave you with the lyrics God left on my heart last night "So walk down this mountain with your heart held high. Follow in the footsteps of your maker. With this love that's gone before you and these people at your side. If you offer up your broken cup, you will taste the meaning of this life." When we offer up our lives from the stress and whatever challenges we have in our lives and simply enjoy the beauty around us, we can truly taste the meaning of why we are here.
This weekend, myself and my friends Maggie and Julie made the long journey from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by bus, and eventually to the island of Zanzibar by ferry. If you ever go to Africa, please stop in Tanzania and make your way out to Zanzibar. It is absolutely beautiful. I loved this part of Africa.
A taxi picked Julie and I up Friday morning at 6 to get down to the bus station. We got there a bit before 6:30, when we were supposed to get on for our 7 o'clock bus to Dar. We met Maggie there, and waited...Finally a bus showed up at 7:15ish and looked really nice. But after everyone on the bus got off, it drove away, ruining our dreams of having the nice bus for our trip. At about 7:40, our bus finally showed up, and we left Nairobi a little before 8. I'm ready to be done with Kenya time.
The road coming up to the border of Kenya and Tanzania is not good. We made it to immigration, got stamped out of Kenya, walked across the border, and thoroughly enjoyed the immigration officer yelling "Three Americans! Three Americans!" when he finalized our passports and stamps in Tanzania. We got back on the bus and the bumpy road continued until we got to the Tanzanian city of Arusha. Arusha and the next town over, Moshi, are very nice. You can also see Mt. Kilimanjaro from this area, but it was cloudy, so we could not unfortunately see it.
Our bus stopped in Moshi, and all three of us went to the bathroom. When I came out, I heard a bus driving away, and I had heard some horror stories from people I know here about buses leaving people at stops. So I ran out and saw another bus leaving the station, but it was not ours. Well, I thought it wasn't ours. Julie and Maggie came running off our bus with our stuff, yelling at me that our bus had just left. Supposedly they told the front of our bus that we were transferring buses in Moshi, but we did not hear it sitting toward the back. So I grabbed my bag quick from Julie and started running after the bus. My bag was still open, so things were falling out and people were yelling at me to stop. Fortunately, the lady at the bus station called the bus back and we got on, along with another lady they left. Maggie was on her a-game, grabbing my jacket off the other bus!
So we went for a while, a long while. And while this part of Tanzania is beautiful with long stretches of savannah interrupted with small mountains with rock faces and fields of aloe plants, we had another problem. It started raining. At one point, I felt like the bus drove through a small river on the road, and we passed an accident where a semi flipped on its side. Luckily, we made our way safely through the rain. But according to the bus line, our ride would be about 14 hours....it was definitely over 16.
So, after midnight we finally came into Dar. We were confused, however, as to which bus stop we should get off at as there are two. So luckily, Maggie has internet on her phone, so we could call the hostel, make sure we could still come in at that time and what stop to get off at. We got off at the right stop, found a cab and made our way to our hostel.
When we walked in, the place looked a bit sketchy. But our room was more than suitable for the night. It had recently been refurbished, so when we walked in, there was an ok bathroom, three beds, a pretty big flat screen tv, and our favorite part, AIR CONDITIONING!!! We were more than excited to sleep after the long day.
We woke up the next morning, and met the travel agent for the hostel. He was super helpful all morning, taking us to breakfast, an ATM, and then by cab to the bus stop, and finally the port where we booked our tickets to take the ferry from Dar to Zanzibar.
We got on the ferry, and that was another fun adventure. The ferry was pretty big, and could probably carry a couple hundred people. Maggie and I watched this ridiculous movie they showed while Julie went up on the deck to catch the view. This was all while the lady across the aisle from me got motion sickness and vomited twice, and then for some reason ate chips, and then vomited again. We finally got into Zanzibar a couple hours later.
After going through immigration at Zanzibar, we met a guy who we could rent a car through. Maggie has her international driver's license, so we were able to get a car instead of taking a taxi, saving us money as the the drive was about an hour from the port at Stone Town to our hotel. Unfortunately, Maggie didn't have her international driver's license on her, so we had to go to the Zanzibar license place, and she got a driving permit for a week. After getting that, we finally were on the island, ready to go.
We made our way first through Stone Town, an old city that's the hub of Zanzibar with a strong classic European feel to it with small roads and three story buildings providing walkways to people going from shop to shop. As we moved out of Stone Town, we got to see the beautiful landscape of the island. Palm trees were everywhere, with small villages along the way. We also found out that A TON of people bike or moped their way around, and they're mildly insane.
About an hour later, we found our way to the little village of Paje on the east coast of the island. We made our way to the hotel, checked in, and went out to the beach. Here, we met up with some of the people in Julie and mine's program who came to Zanzibar from Mombasa. It was great to see them.
When we walked out on the beach, we were amazed by the beautiful ongoing white sand beaches, bright blue water, old wooden boats offshore and relaxed feel of the island. O yea, and there was a rainbow over the water!!! Not a bad way to be greeted to tropical paradise after a long trek. We swam for a while, showered, grabbed some dinner, and then we fell asleep early after a long day of travel.
We woke up Sunday morning and made our way down to the beach. After a bit of journaling, I grabbed breakfast with some other people, and then my friend and I made our way to a restaurant/resort next door where we had a great little drink in their pool that was surrounded by green plants with these beautiful white flowers. Then we made our way back to the beach and hung out until about noon. The water here is protected by coral reef a few hundred yards offshore, so Maggie and I swam out about 1/4 mile from the beach, and because of the low tide could stand up.
After noon, Maggie, Julie and I got ready, said good bye, and made the hour long drive back to Stone Town. We bummed around the city for a while, doing some shopping and seeing the old city. After a quick lunch, we made it in time for our ferry back to Dar. The dock was INSANE, filled with people trying to get on boats.
The boat we got on back to Dar was a bigger ferry than our original, and that meant more people. But also, the waves were worse, so I started getting a bit of motion sickness. Luckily, I made my way to the back of the boat, where I stood for almost the entirety of the ride, watching the sun set over the expanse of ocean. It was absolutely beautiful.
We docked in Dar, and Maggie was not feeling well, so we made our way back to the hostel we stayed in two nights before, and then Julie and I went out for dinner. Being Easter Sunday, most places were closed, including Subway! When getting money from an ATM at a mall in Dar, I saw a sign for Subway, the first American restaurant I've seen in Africa. We tried to make it for dinner Sunday night, but it was already closed. So Julie and I ended up at this hotel restaurant in the same building that served: creole/New Orleans food?!? In Dar es Salaam?? Anyway, we grabbed dinner, made our way back to the hostel, and fell asleep.
We woke up at 4:15 yesterday morning to catch our 5 o'clock bus. Unfortunately Maggie was not feeling better, so she won my "Keep Fighting" award for the weekend, enduring the bus ride despite being fairly ill. We left at 5, went to the second bus stop, and left Dar at 6:30. We made our way across Tanzania, and this time, got to see Mt. Kilmanjaro!! This was one of the three things I wanted to do in Africa: Visit Mombasa, go to Masai Mara and see Mt. Kilimanjaro.
While we could only see the peak as the rest of the mountain was covered with clouds ,it was an absolutely beautiful sight. I would love to hike it, but the cost is a bit high..about $1000. So, I decided that at some point in my life, I'm going to come back and hike that thing. But the view of the snow covered peak rising above the clouds is amazing (and seeing snow in Africa is a bit odd...)
We drove the rest of the way through Tanzania and went through immigration, and made our way back into Kenya. As we drove about 5 minutes from the border, I looked out, and could see Mt. Kilimanjaro in its entirety. I was so excited to see the whole thing, and that's how we closed our trip, seeing the sun set over Mt. Kilimanjaro.
This trip taught me a lot, mostly to trust in God. I am someone who wants everything finalized way ahead of time, and when things don't go well, I tend to stress out big time. That happened more than enough times this weekend, but it seems like every time that happened, I saw a rainbow. We saw three on our drive through Tanzania and then two when we arrived at our place in Zanzibar. I repeatedly heard God telling me that I need to stop being so concerned and worried about everything, and to just slow down and trust what he has in store for me. As we closed our trip looking at Kilimanjaro, all I could think of was Bebo Norman's "Walk Down This Mountain" and what God taught me this last weekend. So I'll leave you with the lyrics God left on my heart last night "So walk down this mountain with your heart held high. Follow in the footsteps of your maker. With this love that's gone before you and these people at your side. If you offer up your broken cup, you will taste the meaning of this life." When we offer up our lives from the stress and whatever challenges we have in our lives and simply enjoy the beauty around us, we can truly taste the meaning of why we are here.
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