Springsteen Safari

Happy Thanksgiving!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:52:00 +0000

This is just a Happy Thanksgiving video me and my friends made for all those we love back home!

A Norebong

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:35:00 +0000

And just so you all know what its like at a Norebong, I'll post these shots. After having our welcoming dinner we went out to a Norebong to sing, which is like a Korean karaoke place and I got a few shots of it. This is a favorite past time for many Koreans. You essentially rent out a room just for yourself and your good friends.

These rooms weren't nearly as nice and fancy as some and it still had a disco bill and fancy echoing. This is Filip our Welsh guy singing Dancing Queen. Good times.

And just to prove how deadly serious I am, this is our boss singing. A very straight laced lady, belting out music with her underlings at a Karaoke place. Nice eh? I'm telling you that microphone's echo was so severe that not even Kate or Will would have sounded good though so cut the singers a little slack on their sound.

What to Report

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0000

at the Yongkung temple. Its sideways but this is the main building. Its beautiful.

A golden buddha. No doubt you oculd really rub his belly for good luck.

Me and Jaime at the entrance to go downstairs to the temple. She wanted to be in almost every picture and I had a hard time denying her she was so cute.

The school at an SLP dinner welcoming me and a few other new teachers

Its funny how misery gets one talking more than happiness does sometimes. Or possibly at least for me. All's so well here in Korea that I've stopped writing about my life because I'm just happy to be enjoying it. Like when I forgot to take too many pictures at a church outing perhaps because I was so busy being happy where I was. So to sum up a month has passed since my last post and I feel like I'll have to update with pictures. I went to a really neat temple which many of you may have seen from my facebook pictures. Its called Yongkung sa and it was beautiful, a famous Buddhist temple by the sea. Next week on Sunday I have plans to go to Beomosa temple, a beautiful Buddhist temple in the Mountains. I shall thoroughly enjoy learning more about Buddhism. Teaching has continued to be something I'm really enjoying...or perhaps its just this job, its hard to say what exactly goes into making you like your work. I've started taking Korean classes and my teacher is great and my class members I really like. I can now read the alphabet and I can conjugate verbs, I just need practice and to really work on my vocab. I've made some more friends and diversified my relationships, which I'm really happy about. We had another field trip on Friday and it was great again. I went dancing last night to a club that actually had decent music. I must say one of the few downsides of Korea is that all the clubs I've been to thus far...and there hasn't actually been that many but some, well the music isn't very good. I'm just not a techno person. I can't jump to the same beat for 6 hrs straight, its just...boring. But this club was better and they had a wild cross dressing lady to boot. I found some maps for my walls so my room is really starting to feel like me now, which is great. Also I've officially bought tickets to see Josh over New Years, which is also great. Also I've finally started to let go alittle. I think the biggest challenge of being overseas here in a new place is also what has been my greatest asset. You see my whole 2 and some years in Tanzania was such a life changing experience for me that when ever I first went out on the town here I was haunted by ghosts of experiences pasts, of all the sometimes bad, yet always marvelous times I had overseas in another, much warmer island. So I felt like by having too much of a good time here, I was betraying that experience somehow. I mean I'm 100% behind the fact that my job here kicks the behind of the other teaching gig I had - but to say that Korea's night life can be just as fun, well that ventures into dangerous territory. It was a fork in the road, a pivot point upon which my life changed directions. Everything surrounding my teaching gig on Zbar is like first love. It cuts the deepest, runs the hardest and thats how it should be and is. So I was afraid of having fun here, like it'll somehow make me forget there.

But like I've said, I've started to move forward again. I went out last night dancing and had a great time and didn't reminisce once about Zbar. I'm like that girl who recognizes that it'll never be that first guy I loved, but that this new guy can be perfectly beautiful in his own right. This new country isn't Zbar and it won't ever be, but Korea will be perfectly beautiful in its own right and deserves not to be to be compared constantly -sometimes winning and sometimes losing the comparison appreciated for itself, for no other reason, than it IS too. It exists, has a culture a people and a long history. This is a really big step forward for me and I'm glad I can finally say I'm really starting to do it.

So without further ado, please enjoy the pictures and the video.

Gwangalli Fireworks and Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

So everything is humming along smoothly here and its kind of hard to not notice how nicely the days pass here. Its really rather relaxing actually - I'm almost to the point where I'll need to do something in the evenings to spice things up a bit, which coincides nicely with the "Korean" lessons I'll soon be taking. I've just been saving money trying to keep everything paid, but by the next paycheck I should have enough to do a few things I've been planning to do for a bit. Keeping with the theme of exploring the city,

Recently I went to the Gwangalli fireworks show. It was spectactular. Gwangalli is a section of the city wherein there is this really beautiful bridge over the sea and a nice beach that looks out on it all. This is the 4th annual fireworks show as far as I know and really, they outdid themselves. Its by far the best session I've ever been too - it reminded me most of all of the waterworks show in front of the Belagio in Vegas. The choreographed moving water and song, thats exactly what it was like, except for instead of water there were fireworks. There was literally a fireworks waterfall off the bridge and in the air the exploding was choreographed to different music. There were even fireworks birds which were just incredible. It really is one of those things where the pictures don't do them justice. A nice thing to know is how many of those events/things/places exist in the world - places where the pictures don't do them justice. So I'm uploading a video -somehow videos always seem more honest.

Also this last Friday was my first field trip with the school and as such I snapped a few pics of the kids so all can see. I posted them on facebook but for those not on it - here we are

We went to a horse place - actually a horse race stadium, but of course we skipped the gambling part. All the kids got the chance to sit on a horse and get ridden around in a circle - and the really little kids got to pet a pony (Mom it was a really pretty pony, you'd have enjoyed it). It was about an hour by bus to get there and then an hour back, while there we also had lunch and the kids went on the slides, all in all a great time. This week we'll have a Halloween Party and yours truly has somehow become the defacto pinata builder. Its fun.

I continue to learn more about teaching, really its an ever learning process. I have this one class that mostly does exactly as I tell them, and this other class who mostly takes 10 minutes to do everything I tell them - so I had been enjoying the first class while always being regularly frustrated with the second. So I'm trying to change my approach - let go a little and embrace more the extra chaos of the second class - maybe as not necessarily a bad thing, but just how they operate. And in letting go a little, I'm having much more success getting things done. So somehow letting go has created more natural order. Its wierd, but still very much a work in progress.

Anyway this is a few pictures of the kids - I hope you guys enjoy and by picture can somehow see why I like them so much. And they come up at the top of the page for whatever reason. In anycase those are the kids and they are pretty darn cute! Hope all is well in the other hemisphere. Best wishes

The Subway and Haeundea

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:01:00 +0000

So this week has really been a week where I discover the subway. I've now traveled to the Seomyeon and the Haeundea areas of Busan. Both are big important business areas of the city, Seomyeon being the center of the city and Haeundea being a beach area. They are both really amazing and interesting places to osee, and in the process of visiting those areas throughout this week I declare myself as rather understanding the subway. It's a real valuable thing to figure out and I'm pretty thrilled. In honor I'm posting a video of Haeundea and a random music man in Haeundea. This first one is the video of Haeundea. Unfortunately I'm not technically adept enough tosave this as right side up, but it gives one an idea anyway. This next video is one of a random music player at the beach - the singer and his guitar player. Just goes to show that no matter where you go some things never change - like crazy entertainment along side big beaches - and struggling musicians.

If you are on facebook you might also get a chance to see some random subway pictures.

On a cultural note -one thing I have noticed - S.Korea's differentness from the U.S. is alot more under the surface as compared to Zanzibar. There the surface differences were so overwhelming you sometimes missed the under the surface similarities. Here the surface similarities are so overwhelming you sometimes miss the under the surface differences. I don't claim to be any sort of expert, having only been here for 3 weeks, but my eyes are definitely opening to it a little more. I still think that this is a heck of a lot easier cultural jump than from U.S. to Zanzibar, and yet, I do think there is a jump.

But yea, life is good! I'm really enjoying Korea thus far - welcome to anyone who wants to come! I'd love to introduce you.

School and Cultural Tidbits

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:40:00 +0000

So I'm learning alot lately. These past few weeks I've been really happy though, even when I say or do stupid things its all kinda cool. I'm blessed to be working with really good people. They've been more than welcoming and helpful as I try to learn the ropes and get the hang of all of this. The kids at my school are great too. Its an a hagwon~private school in Korean~ and more specifically an English immersion school, which means inside the doors we speak only English. Of course, the kids are anywhere from 3-7 yrs old so alittle Korean sometimes gets spoken to help explain things (especially for the youngest ones) but remarkably about 90 - 95% of the time in English only, even in the halls. The Korean teachers at the school are great English speakers and in the kindergarten grades the three foreign teachers are me, a girl from Alaska, and a guy from Wales. We usually have about 7 kids per class - except for Afternoon Activities time when classes work together for different things. My day of teaching lasts till 9:30 - 5:30 though the preparing ~especially now~ is going to take longer. But thats ok!I'll get the hang of it.

Some things I know now about Korean culture include the fact that they are very hard workers, dedicated to education and lots of it from a very young age. It is not at all surprising that in 40 yrs South Korea has moved from a 3rd world economy to a 1st world one. The kids start school at like 3 or 4 "American years" ~I'll explain what Korean years are in a minute~ and they usually from a young age have alot of extra after school Activities - like when they get out of public school they often go to night classes for English or other things, often up to 9 at night. Crazy eh?

Also, Koreans count age from the when you were conceived, not born...so a 7 year old kid in Korea is often 6 yrs old in Western terms. Also they don't have separate birthdays, they all advance a year in age when the Korean New Year roles around. so a 7 year old kid hear, actually could be 5 years old American too.

When addressing letters in Korea one starts from the most general thing and then goes specific, unlike starting specific and then moving to general (like my address in US written Korean style would be Jane Doe, USA, Michigan, St. Ignace, 193 Portage Street)

As well Koreans do not go "dutch" so to speak. When you are a guest, you are 100% the guest, not paying for anything. (Not totally unlike Tanzanians view of the situation). They just expect that you will return the favor in like kind another day.

They LOVE Karaoke. Not Karaoke bars, but Karaoke in its unadultered, not drunken, but singing soberly the best you can glory! I think it might be an Asian thing. Josh told me it was big in Taiwan too, and Eriko mentioned it being big in Japan as well. I'm not kidding, there's a booming business in renting out different themed suites to people who want to go singing. You go into the building and they show you around their different rooms and ask you which one you'd like - be it the "disco" room, or the "underwater" room, or the "modern" room or the "pretty pretty princess" room. Whichever. I love it when people geek out about something and are unashamed of it! Its so thoroughly cool.

Also there are phone booths everywhere around here despite the fact that almost everyone has a telephone! I'm not kidding real honest to God kinda phone booths where Clark Kent can change into Superman. Its cool.

Anyway, thats just some random things I've learned about Korea. Happy Chusak too everyone! It's the festival to honor our ancestors this weekend. Sort of a Thanksgiving equivalent. So yea, 3 day weekend. Pretty cool.

Busan on a Rainy Sunday Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:20:00 +0000

So just a video of the Busan area on a rainy Sunday Morning. This is the University area near to my house. Its like a mixture of the liveliness of African markets with the modern day inside store thing. Its a wonderful place for people watching. Anyway, so far so good here. I don't have a video of the school, but its a little hard to do while I'm still trying to get everything straight, which day for weekly lesson plans and which papers to copy and when the speaking tests and progress reports are do etc. I really like it there though so far - I knew the school would be better than most just based on the interview, but its really delightful to discover that what I at first considered a job to be done, is well on its way to becoming something I thoroughly enjoy. Also after all my screwups these past 3 years with teaching, its rather fascinating to realize that along the way I seem to have learned something after all, and I might just be good at it given the proper circumstances.

So all in all, despite a really tight budget and struggling to stay afloat with all the new things, I'm really just skipping with happiness underneath. Also this highspeed connection for the first time ever doesn't hurt anything. The apartment is small but really might be perfect when I get the right things for it - which will come in time. Life is good!

The kids though at my school, really really are kind of great! Just so you guys know. I'll have about 7 kids in a class, except for the one class where they are combined with another smaller class for about 12. They are really young...maybe 4-5 by U.S. age standards so its a challenge to keep them still but they are SOOOO cute. SO cute. Its fun to hear them learn!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:43:00 +0000

Just some images of the architecture in the area I live. The one above is a golfing cage set straight in the middle of the city. When I first walked by the netting with the tall steel borders I thought it was under construction - but no. It's a golfing cage for the city golfers who want to practice there swing, and the netting catches all balls - so it won't hit the many buildings and sky scrapers nearby. See South Korea, as I can plainly see is a country that doesn't sprawl outwards, like in the U.S., but builds up. Everything is very compactly put together and I have yet to see any evidence of suburbs, instead the whole population in the cities live in apartments (though granted my experience is extremely limited thus far). Anyway as they say, they have many people and a small land mass area. It makes sense
This is a rather beautiful landscape from the top floor of the parking garage at the local hospital. Aparently hiking and climbing are passions of many Koreans...as is - fun fact- baseball. Koreans love climbing and baseball, and I gather, they are rather good at both. In anycase with landscape like this its not hard to imagine why many people take up hiking.
Just I thought a fun picture of the grocery store. Thats my cart I'm holding, the grocery store is on the bottom floor of the GS Mart, sort of a Walmart of Korea, as I'm finding out. Anyway all the shopping carts have little "grippies" on the bottom which stick tight when you are riding one of these escalator/moving walkway "thingies" up or downstairs.
Just a street view of the intersection that you come too when walking away from my school
And this is a view of the street my school is on. Pretty neat eh? I'm definately smack dab in the middle of a city of 3.5 million people. It's a new experience and its really working thus far.

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Hey all, can't write too much sorry, still figuring a few things out and don't want to update people of one thing if things change, but I just thought I'd post some pictures and video (if it works) of my apartment thus far. Also if I can make it work, some pictures of the area I'm living. This video is a video of my apartment on the first night I arrived. It's about 3 rooms smaller than my apartment overseas - but also way better equipped. It's a 2 room apartment, one for bathroom, which has washer, sink, toilet and shower all together. The other room encompasses the bed, tv, and kitchen area. Since I made this video I've grown more and more attached to my tiny apartment- even my frilly pink comforter - it's not at all my style, but its very warm and well, comfortable. Plus as I mentioned, its pretty cool of the school to give it to me. Enjoy

Things I'll Miss Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:49:00 +0000

17) Tropical Beaches and the winding streets of Stonetown - yep. The scenery here is be-AUtiful! The beaches are postcard perfect and stonetown is totally exotic. I feel interesting just knowing how to get around here. I'll miss it
18)Juice - tamarind, mango,passion, sugarcane, etc. etc. It's awesome awesome awesome. Fresh juice all the time, dirt cheap. Infact in Swahili my school Mkwajuni is "The Place of the Tamarind trees". Heaven~

And I'm leaving tomorrow! And I'm an RPCV now. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Boo-ya! I'll see you fools in a few weeks!

Things I'l miss continued

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:28:00 +0000

12) The chickens! - I gotta say it'll be wierd to be walking everywhere, to school, around the house etc, without tripping over chickens. Chickens are everywhere here, mainland, zanzibar, school town, village whatever. A number of times I've had to kick a stray goat or chicken out of my classroom when they've wandered in while I was teaching...so I guess goats and cows get an honorable mention inthis one too. Although to be fair chickens still win out. As eaters of gardens they aren't often a favorite of local volunteers however when no more rooster crows wake me up in the morning you know I'll be feeling like somethin is missing

13) Monkeys! - all the wild monkeys here I will miss you, with bushbaby's gettin an honorable mention. Where would the night be without your hooting my funny looking friends! Monkeys are the local deer here, everyone gets annoyed cause they eat food, cause havoc with crops and carry off bits and pieces every now and then but for me the novelty never wore off. First visit to Pemba the locals tried to sell me a baby monkey in diapers and I gotta say...I was tempted. If but for the Peace Corps rule prohibiting us to own primates...who knows Shujaa you mighta had company!
14)Cheap movies and tv shows - yup the chinese have cornered the market on ripping dvds and tv shows onto video and for a scant 2-5 dollars you too can have a 24 pack of new movies- some good -My friend got "The Dark Knight" before it had left the theatre - some junk like Steven Seigal or Jean Claude van damn movies. Myself I've watched 5 seasons of prison break, 4 seasons of lost and 1 season of desperate housewives and 1 season of heroes (soon 2 as I've just bought another for when I get home). Good times
15) The peace corps floating library - This is that library that all PCVS contribute too when they come. GIven as how we're mostly in the land of few book choices whenever there is a good book it almost always gets passed along, from region to region throughout the country as different volunteers burrow it. A book may travel from Moshi to Zbar all the way down to Mbeya and then back again. Its a well known fact that the actual library in Dar at the PC office that PCVs can donate too has generally nothing good in it cause if it were good, it wouldn't be in there, it would be somewhere else being read!
16) Street food - delicious! Where else to get octopus, calamari, fries and a soda for a few dollars at most. I know it chances being dirtier than the u.s. style food, but its delicious and almost free. Here's to street food

What I'll miss

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:35:00 +0000

So I had a fabulous last few months (fasted for 10 days this year!! :-) ), saw Lake Nyasa, had a pig roast and Philipinio Karoke night, celebrated Eid, started school, and saw loads of friends, and I thought I'd tell you all about it but I think those'll be stories I'll be happy to share when I'm home. Instead right now I'm contemplating about how in 1 week I'll be leaving Zanzibar forever, and how in just over 1 week I'll be on a plane out of the country-though I'm stopping in Ethiopia and Egypt first before I arrive in America. And with that I'd just like to let you all know what I'll miss about this place, although really one never knows until one leaves the whole story, so maybe this list will be amended as time goes on.

I'll miss....
1) The sun! Yea its hot as *&$# but its also the land of eternal summer where I can never wear a coat, ALL YEAR LONG. I know that in the middle of a michigan winter I"ll be lamenting this.
2) The food. The ice cold fresh juice-tamarind, passion and mango as well as sugar cane, you know I love you, kachori, biriayani, pilau, rice and beans, coconuts etcetcetc. And everything fresh fresh fresh! Its more expensive for the processed.
3) My appreciation for the food. When you have to physically make almost everything you eat and a thing like icecream or chocolate is a real exception not a rule, its amazing how much more delicious things taste.
4)the style - lets face it, zanzibari women as a whole have impeccable taste. As a rule and not an exception their clothes flatter all body types as well as hair. And they are bold too, it looks like a field of flowers sometimes at a party, so many colors everywhere! These people shun brown, black, and blah colors. They celebrate flair in your color choice and classiness in your style. I LOVE shopping here.
5) the attention - this is an I'll miss and I'll look forward to not having as well. I know I'll really look forward to getting less attention in fact, but I also know that when every guy in the room isn't commenting on how amazing I look just a little part of me will be wondering "what's up?".
6)the friendliness - in my apartment bloc practically everyone is so TOGETHER! The kids run in packs..like dogs almost, except much cuter when they are between 2-6 yrs old, and mama's just stand on balconies shouting for so and so to do something. And people come in and out of my place, ALL THE TIME, and really I think they'd view it as if they somehow were being rude if you were alone for too long. And everyone will help you out. Just talk to older folk on the street and they'll loan you things and show you places and give you advice, all for free.
7) The guest culture - its huge here. Guests are so, welcome and its so difficult to live up to somehow when you are a host but its fabulous when you are a guest. Guests are respected and welcomed and people just knock on your door all the time to say hi. And when you are invited out you get treated to the 9's! The poorest of the poor families will make some effort to give you a soda, and biscuits. And everyone always has time to greet you. To give an example, in the states when you are a guest sometimes its appreciated when you offer to help out, because you are relieving them of some duties, like washing dishes etc. Here its almost an insult if you offer to help out because you are the guest and it insinuates that they are not taking care of you properly and can't handle a guest.
8) The packs of kids running around - I don't know what it is but little kids just seem so much freer here. They all run around together in little packs. Its great! And they are adorable when they aren't being whiny, and fairly respectful too. When I arrive with a heavy pack, they want to carry it for me. And every morning without fail they love to greet me as I walk outside (it's a game almost). And every day if I'd let them they'd come in to my house and play around with my stuff and just entertain me and themselves for 3 hrs.
9)The trust - people trust people ALOT more here than in the states. Its so nice to stop being afraid all the time of everybody and have a culture where some things are just taken on trust. For example on busses, when people are getting on they may have alot of packs to carry, so its totally understood and helpful for you to grab there baby for them and hold him till they are situated. Or if there are multiple kids perhaps it'd be very appreciated if you let one of them sit on your lap. I feel like people are searching every nook and cranny in the states for sexual predators etc. I mean you'd never pass your baby down the isle in the states, or ask it to sit on a strangers lap. Here you would absolutely. Also here definately people hitch rides all the time! Its expected, understood culture and people aren't always freaked again for the random chance they'll hitch with an ax-murdering serial rapist. When I say trust I don't mean for all things I just mean within certain limits there is definately an expectation of human decency from strangers that we just don't have in the states, and the fact is that expectation is almost always proved true.
10) Time - this is again something I'll not miss as well as miss. In the states people hate it when you waste their time. Here people don't view time as something to be wasted, its used to benefit people. So there's just alot more understanding and helpfulness when dealing with time and people. It makes you late all the time,but also your relationships with people never really suffer cause somehow you were too busy
11) Lack of fear - I will miss this sooooo much. I would have to say, comparatively to the states, people just are sooooo less afraid of everything, and especially considering the level of crime that supposedly should be here if you take into account the poverty, well its kind of remarkable. I don't know how or why but its just a feeling that permeates you after you are here for a while, that a stranger is probably a decent person. In the states all the time its "don't talk to strangers", "don't touch", "don't get in cars with people you don't know", "don't accept gifts from strangers", all these, don't's! All this fear. And within reason there's total legitimacy to it, but it still creates a culture of fear. You don't even realize how bad it is till its absent, till you feel free to hitch a ride when your gut tells you everything looks on the up and up, and till you are sitting with a random 6 yr old on your lap on a bus, etc. I don't mean to say I'd hitch a ride in the middle of the night in the city, or I'd leave my wallet wherever etc. common sense still applies, but not the fear. And when I meet fellow travelers, I AS A RULE try to hitch a taxi with them, or meet up with them for lunch or whatever. I introduce myself to people I've never met and ask a favor to spend the night in town at the house of a person I've only hung out with once. And ya know what, when this person isn't home, they call a friend to give me the keys to allow me to spend the night at their house. ITS SO NICE, and so warming.

And thats all I got for now cause I gotta run. MOre on this list later. Cheers to everyone and I'll see you all soon!

Ramadhan!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:06:00 +0000

Just wanted to say, Happy Ramadhan to all. Its the 2nd day of ramadhan here, and all is well. And just for a little cultural update; What is Ramdhan?
Ramdhan is the 30 days where the prophet Mohommad was in the desert recieving the information in the Koran from heaven and writing it down. It is THE holy month on the muslim religious calender, and is celebrated by fasting. This entails one to neither eat, nor drink anything, from about 4 in the morning till 7 at night. (This is real serious here too, nothing can enter bodily orafices, strict muslims won't bathe or swim during this time, nor will they brush their teeth, nor will married people have sexual relations). Nothing at all enters the body during this time! Then just after evening prayer (magharibi) everyone breaks the fast with a meal called futari. Futari is a celebatory time, like christmas dinner, everyone is welcome at the table, and it sometimes happens that everynight everyone in a village may eat together, (ex. so futari would be at my house one night, and I'd cook massive amounts of food- and the next night at your house where you'd provide all the food). For my area its very common for extended familys to eat together (and friends), but not the whole village. I often get invited to dine with different neighbors, and I usually go. Its great! Afterwords people walk about and talk for a bit, then go to sleep. Everyone then wakes up real early in the morning (3 ish) and eats something , and drinks a whole lot of water and the process starts again.
I did it some last year too, though this year I'll try to go for much longer (though I suspect as I'm traveling to the mainland for a bit I won't make it the whole 30 days). The part thats suprising is that its not really the food part thats difficult, its the water. When you wake up in the morning you HAVE to drink alot of water or you'll never make it. Myself I try to drink at least a liter each morning. You feel like you are swimming but it pays off in the afternoon.
A funny thing that you wouldn't think of though is that when you do drink so much water, and then try to go back to sleep, its somehow difficult to get a good nights rest, as one has to get up frequently to pee.
But anyway. Happy Ramadhan! Love to all!

COS Conference and The Persian New Years

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:04:00 +0000

Oh-la all, sorry haven't written in a while! Just thought I'd relate some of the interesting events of the past couple weeks in order to entertain. First though, gotta say, its all true. Not a stretching of events. And I know that if I were me back in the states I would think I was pulling my leg. Not so!!.

So the Persian New Year in Makunduchi on Zanzibar is an event for all to behold. This year me and almost all of my Zanzibar compatriats decided to check it out full scale (saw it last year but missed some stuff), and especially with one of us undercover as a villager in the south, we were golden on the who what when's. This also turned out to be a great time to send off in style two great PCVs Don, and an honorary-Zanzibari at heart-Jess. Don you are no longer a part of Broke-back Pemba! And I shall miss talking sports with you and playing yahtzee and UNO! Have a great one.
Anywho after a great time at the full moon-party (yep it was a party weekend!) we trekked down south with the help of Kiparo's taxi and some killer bargaining by an unnamed accomplice. The next morning we nursed some hangovers with Chai, and then omba'd a lifti (hitched a ride) down to the coast by literally standing on the side of the road and flagging down cars. This lifti was the back of a pick-up truck. All right by me! The lifti even drove us straight to the site of the main event, the banana whipping.
Yup! Folks from all over the south had formed teams to celebrate persian new year, and in an area a field of sorts was set up, with a few teams fighting at a time while the other teams circled in running parade format chanting things like "we're gonna beat you till you look chinese". The teams on the field would go back and forth a bit, one team gaining ground, another losing it, while spectators looked on, from the outside inside and all over. Yes a huge TIA (This is Africa). Its wonderful. Of course this is not a sterile event where teams are cordoned off into an area. There are spectators getting accidently mixed up in fighting here if they aren't careful. And by fighting I mean each team wins by beating the crap out of the other team with banana stalks. No one got seriously hurt as far as I know...teams back off when its too much. But really there were like a couple thousand people there, watching and fighting, and when one team backed up cause they were losing ground spectators had to frantically run backwards or risk getting caught up. As one of my friends commented "the most dangerous thing about this whole scenario is probably the people running away from the fighting". And I have to agree, think about all the extremely crowded congested people situations you've been in and how dangerous it is for numerous people at once to begin screaming and running. Mob scenario anyone?!
But yea, so that added a whole level of excitement, but anyhow in total the whole situation was just so ridiculous and hilarious that I had a wonderful time. Me and Jess too ran the parade route with groups of ladies who followed the teams, chanting and singing. And got some hi-LAR-ious picks of certain PCVs who joined in the whipping. Jess got herself some serious supporters from the ladies who were excited to see a girl join in. Also got some good picks of people just tricked out for the fights. They were wearing all sorts of homemade gear, from football helmets to self made cone-head helmets with slits for eyes. And one great pick of a guy who came in with the trunk of a banana tree instead of just a stalk for the whipping.
Anyhow after a bit with the banana stick whipping the festivities continued to the house burning. In this part of the ceremony a house which has been recently built is lit on fire and the local wizard (witchdoctor) is within when this happens. This serves double purposes. First it tells you the quality of your wizard, second, the state of the crops. So the wizard was escorted to the house, then we ladies started running in circles chanting and the men came forward with torches and set the house on fire. The wizard made it out, no worries which means a) He was a real wizard -if he doesn't make it out it means he wasn't a real wizard so the village is better off anyway b) the crops will be well this year.
So all's well that ends well eh? Anyway afterword we went up to the fair grounds and had street food (fried food) and wandered around a bit. Played some GHEtto carnival games...and chilled on the beach a bit. An all around event.
COS conference though just finished and that was really great as well. We were put up in Arusha at the Arusha national Park in a hotel inside it. It was rather safi, but also quite cold for my liking. During the conference we learned about all the things we'll have to deal with at Close Of Service. Learning about resume's and health care plans and etc. Also picked up some knowledge about PC jobs and networking which I love. Got to talk to the second in command at the embassy about foreign service jobs, he was a former PC volunteer and they had an RPCV panel (returned peace corps volunteer panel) to help volunteers be able to talk to people who'd been through the process. Also there was a lady from the World Food Program and another lady who'd just worked for loads of different NGO's and was now running her own business in Tanzania. But the funnest part was of course, as always, seeing volunteers. It was the last time we'll be together before we leave and we had a wonderful prom-yagi where I got a fabulous dress made and for the first time ever, I was PROM QUEEN!! yay! And Jeremy, my date, was Prom King. He looks like a porn-star on his facebook photo, its a picture of his white suit. Unfortunately my camera is flipping out and I was not able to take my own picture though hopefully I'll get some from others. I'll bring the dress back for sure at least.
Anyway thats all I got for now. Hope all is well in the U.S. and I CAN"T WAIT to see you all when I get back. Current plans put me back in the U.S. hopefully at Detroit Airport on 23rd Dec. maybe can get a flight back to gaylord??? Don't know yet what people's plans are for Christmas and New Years but I hope to see everyone!!!

Love much
Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Chilly weather! Its crazy but its down to 70's and sometimes 60's here and I get a little chilly sometimes. I know I know, hot and beautiful to everyone else. What can I say.
So all's well on this end of the woods. Overall. Just getting done with a meeting in Dar (peer support and diversity network) which has been alot of fun. It makes you really realize how you respond to things when you realize what are good ways to talk to people who are hurting or frustrated. Did you know "why" questions are the wrong ones to ask? Never use "why" if at all possible.
We talked about that, and open ended vs. close ended questions (used to keep a person talking instead of eliciting only a "yes" or "no" response). Also the danger of not giving advice but getting a person to think of it themselves. As well the need to be careful not to couch advice in a question. ("Did you think about calling her to talk"...etc.) Its real interesting.
But Zanzibar power crisis, still mostly continuing, though hopefully soon over I believe. Its really been an interesting month because the power has been out for most of it (except when I came to Dar). You see Zanzibar gets its power from the mainland via an undersea cable and about a month ago that cable fried where it connects to the overland cables, and screwed up a power station. So its been a month of electricity-less adventure. What has it involved? Night time lanterns and candles, day time its as usual. Except very little computer use. For water, yours truly has been a'carryin it. Yup. There's a well about 1/3 kilometer down a path where all locals and yours truly have been getting water. It has a stick across center and you throw a small bucket tied to rope down to the bottom, then pull up the bucket and empty it into your big bucket, and repeat until your big bucket is filled. And for going home, well, thats just lugging as usual. I gotta tell ya, using a well though, that can seriously build up your arms if you do it alot. Just pulling up water from the bottom! - depending on how big your container is. And also, this whole bucket on your head thing, really really smart actually. It saves a ton of effort if you can do it right~ big if on my part. BUT I finally carried it on my head without spilling it too! Wooho! Though I still had to use my hands for balance this was a significant step forward. Hopefully there'll be electricity by the time I get back though...but really not sure. Apparently stonetown has power now, but in the villages, with power out for so long, people have been vandalizing and stealing cables, so even with power restored it might not reach. And I'm a ways out of stonetown. We'll see.
Dar is good for time being and so are most volunteers I saw. Its getting crazy but in less than a month and a half I'll be headed to my close of service conference (cos conference). We feel so old! Naw. Its great. I'm ready though. In Dar I got to meet alot of the newer volunteers. The 1st year health and education and environment group. Its been really quite nice. I like to expand my circle of people. And they are all really great! I love it. Also the new trainees for health and environment have arrived, there's like 48 of them! Neat right?! They are now in training doing there level best I'm sure to be happy healthy newbies! Also fun stuff, just yest, was at the Ymca and ran into a guy who had just arrived in dar es Salaam that day and he was headed to Zanzibar to be working their for a few months . So cool right?! I love just meeting folks on the street. Anyway, (and this would be REALLY intimidating to me) he arrived alone and is staying for a few days in Dar alone! Eeek. Anyway, we totally invited him to hang out with us and he did and it was great. So yea, I'm psyched to meet new friends. (To compliment the recent one I made on the islands in town) But everyone's leaving in August! Yuck. Seriously. People come and go SO quick it seems.
On other notes I have to say, this situation in Zimbabwe to me, is....completely unbelievable. NO ONE is taking responsibility. NO one. I'm sorry but GET OVER IT to all the african leaders out there who still remember Mugabe and want to respect his glory days. HE IS A HEINOUS MURDERING RAPING POWER HUNGRY PSYCHOTIC DICTATOR. Seriously!?!?!! South African leadership is absolutely disgusting, and I'm not just talking about Thabu Mbeki. Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, seriously grow up. Give a shit. They have 3 MILLION percent inflation, the highest ever in the history of the world (it was the highest ever when it was 155,000% inflation and now it, 80% un-employment, and one of Mugabe's most recent moves has been to kick out the food-aid organizations and all NGO's (NGO stands for non-governmental organization which is basically what all aid groups are who aren't directly affiliated with a certain country like for example USAID). According to many aid workers who left this was because he didn't want any outside witnesses to the mutilation he's perpretating to the country-side. According to Mugabe this is because all the NGO's have been campaigning for the opposition. Broken legs/faces/bodies etc of opposition supporters. And deaths and disappearences. And arrests. Apparently much of the rural country side has torture camps where locals are "educated" on the correct way to vote. Also the UN. Not helping. And US and UK EU groups, I'm sorry I feel like we're all implicated too. Why aren't we there? Cause lets face it, it does not directly threaten us nor does it offer our capatalistic system any incentive. (no oil/gold/super wealth in the area). I'm afraid I'm really quite cynical enough to believe that after this blows over if anyone mentions it, it'll be to wonder why we weren't there earlier and how we can stop this from never stopping again, and in the meantime the next one will come up. But seriously, I think despite the cultural issues, its the African countries leaders who need to say it first. They need to. They have needed to months ago.
Anyhow enough on horrific situation in Zimbabwe and how horrified I am by the world response to it.
Hope you all are well. Congrats mom!! I heard and saw the pictures on the horses. I love it! Angel loves babies! how amazing. I even had a dream about a little black baby horse the other day. Also fun stuff, I went to the movies last night, for the first time in a year and a half and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The 3rd indiana jones is still by far my favorite, but I had a good time, and really, I feel like if there was every a time to see Indiana Jones, its in a theatre if you can. So yea. Good times.
But thats all I got for now. Best of luck to everyone at home, I can't wait to see y'all again. Its 21 months away here and counting. Love!

Victoria Falls and the Like

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:20:00 +0000

So finally got a few pictures of the school up there, though alas my camera has run out of batteries so no more. But yes, those are pictures regarding my school, working on the desks.
As to the rest, I just wanted to say, about Victoria falls. I had a great time!~ Anyway, me and jeremy hopped on the train down south 2 days later, and had a nice relaxing ride down to Zambia. It was my first train ride and I had an awesome time envisioning scenes from the orient express! Ha. Especially when we went in a tunnel and when we came out of the dark I half hoped for someone to have been mysteriously dead, or some jewels to have been stolen.
Anywho on the way we hooked up with a British man and a Canadian girl. They were great, and hilarious and had the best travel plans EVER. When we asked where they were headed they said "our eventual destination is Johannesburg (South Africa)". How perfect is that?!Really. Just pick a place and somehow, train/plane/automobile arrive.
So when we got off the train, since we were headed in the same direction we traveled together by bus...another exciting adventure in bribing and lying which I won't relate due to length...to Lusaka (the capital of Zambia). Since it was late those folks spent the night there but me and Jeremy decided to just finish the haul and continued on (another 7hr bus ride) to Livingstone-where Vic Falls is.
We slept in the next day and just walked around the town. Then the day after we took the free bus out to the falls. It was...BEAUTIFUL . The kind of place where pictures don't do it justice, though I do have some online. When Livingstone first arrived there he said "scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight". Really is an apt description. Anyhow we hiked around there all day, taking pictures of baboons, and falls, etc. Awesome.
Next day we did a full day thing called gorge swing/abseiling/rappeling/ziplining. It was 4 activities in one package, along with lunch included and free drinks (free beer too!. Only in Africa would you be offered a free beer before jumping off a cliff. God bless.) Those pictures also online on my facebook site...thats www.facebook.com, and then look for Sarah Springsteen. The gorge swing was scary as hell...it included a 54 meter free fall. But awesome. We had a great time.
Trip back was again a bit frantic...BUT we made the train (only JUST). I ended up taking the train all the way back to Dar es Salaam, and again I liked it. My butt (wowowo in slang swahili...pronounced woah woah woah...awesome right?! :) ) gets so freaking sore sitting all day so I just LOVE trains now. You can sleep. You can eat. You can walk around, no worries! Jeremy lives in Mbeya so he got off there so we even got to have one of those classic train moments where you wave goodbye, running backward in the train trying to still see them, while sticking your hand out the window! Ha. I love it.
Also on the way back on the train ran into another interesting character (traveling is chuck FULL of interesting folks!) Anyway he quit his job and is toolin around Africa, and has been for like 3 months now. Had a great conversation and learned lots about traveling in Egypt. He actually didn't take a cell phone with him on purpose. Wanted to be gone from all that. So he talks to people on email when he gets to a new place. Cool huh?
Anyway, life besides that is well. I feel more rested now. I am in Dar again though like 2 weeks later as the new islands representative of the Peer Support and Diversity network (PSDN). I'm happy, hanging out with other PCVs, enjoying the food and city life. Here all has transitioned into the rainy season so everything looks kind of damp and muddy at the moment and it rains alot. Fortunately I don't live in an area where bridges are flooded out and roads are impassable but I know other PCVs do. So kudos to them!
Anyhow, hope everyone is well. Miss you all, and can't wait to see you again!

Pictures of the School Project

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Students sitting on the floor working on school work and studying.

Above: My headmaster, Mr. Sabui, with the head fundi, Mr. Ali (fundi means builder in Swahili)
Above left: Another fundi sawing support boards for the desks which are being built.
Left: Mr. Ali, and other fundi's, working out some extra sawing on the desks before they get sanded and varnished. At this stage they like to put an extra groove in the front of the desks, a place for students to place pencils.

Riding your bikes in the day past the 3 piece suits!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:12:00 +0000

To fruits, to no absolutes!

So yay. Things are great and its finally arrived to a little vacation again! Yay. I'm in Mbeya now and headed to victoria falls. Its awesome. So far its been such an adventure. And why not? I love adventures

Seriously my last writing might have people think I'm suffering in the pit of despair or something, or pit of frustrations. Or whatever. But not so. Sometimes here too, I know that I'm exactly where I want to be and should be. Cause whether I'm maddeningly frustrated or not, I also feel so ALIVE! Its awesome. And I remember one time, watching these musicians play, ad I know what it was I saw when I saw them preforming, it was freedom. That must have been it. They were jumping around, acting crazy, dancing on the piano, all things you couldn't do in real life, and it was freedom. The freedom to live in the moment, to be who you crazily are.

And when I'm here I know I'm where I should be sometimes cause thats how I feel. Free. I feel so free and alive sometimes its crazy!

Anyway, so now I'm headed on another crazy adventure. First night n Dar es Salaam was an event. I spent the night with the father of a zanzibari friend, and now will write an ode to Cats! Seriously. Cats are such functional animals I kid you not. Came to appreciate mine all over again when I spent a sleepless night being freaked out over the rats in my room. They are such disgusting animals really. Freaked the bejezzus out of me the next morning when it jumped in my lap as I grabbed my bag and scuddled away. But it was a really great night at alocal house in Dar es Salaam besides that. Then while on the bus to Mbeya my bus broke down and I hitched a ride with a fellow passenger across Tanzania, where we hopped on a coaster and finally made it to Mbeya. Sometimes you gotta live in the moment. Take the oppurtunities that come. And I met, the actual head of one of the major banks of tanzania. He's the head guy. Period. And my fellow travel buddy was his fellow. Its so awesome. And on my ride with the rich and famous (and boy were they rich) i had cold chicken and pineapple juice. And I met a man who proudly sported a pink velvet cowboy hat. Proudly. And this is just the begining. So tomorrow i hope the train to Zambia. I hope for an adventure and excitement. Here's to life!

P.S. Note this was posted originally March 21. I have now been on, and returned from vacation and I promise more posts as soon as humanely possible. Vic Falls is B E A U T I F U L. Really. Love ya all and hope you had a wonderful Easter. Sorry I couldn't get through to anyone or you couldn't get through to me, my phone doesn't work in Zambia. No service. Happy Easter Break.

Follow up

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Hey all, another month almost done! Wow, and I just wanted to throw in a quick follow up about my previous blog, because on the whole looking back at it, it seems to me rather incoherently written, and doesn't quite get my point across. However if you want to understand the subject better, be sure to read this much more calm and articulate note on the subject of gender segregation and women on Zanzibar. It's from my friend Caitlin's blog. She's been on Zanzibar since last June working a CIDA internship (CIDA- Canadian International Development Angency is like the USAID of Canada-she's canadian) and she wrote this at just about the same time I wrote my blog. (Though we hadn't been in touch when each wrote our blogs you will notice how they do have many similar things to say...though hers is much less passionate and more articulate. )My blog is supposed to explain how its like here as well as what I'm up to, and so I thought maybe this would help some.
Its at this site
http://zanzibar-caitlin.blogspot.com/2008/02/gender-segregation.html
A very VERY interesting thing to read would be the comments she got to that blog. I think they rather speak for themselves.

Anyway, on a whole though things are going well here. I don't mean to alarm people or anything, its just things go in waves you know? Sometimes you love a place, sometimes you don't. BUT I'm definately SO GLAD I came.
Also good news to all! THE PROJECT is finished! I'll write you so much more Saturday when I'm not burrowing the computer, but it is! Its finished! The desks are built and I have pictures and everything! So still reports and what not to do, but we'll be getting those pictures etc out there soon, so cross your fingers.

Anyway, love all tons. Write more soon

Race and gender

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:36:00 +0000

Ha. So in my life I have never ever had so much appreciation for stereotypes. Never! I think this will probably be the closest I ever come to understanding what its like for African Americans in the U.S., or Arab-Americans, or Asian women. Etc. I never knew!
So what is the problem here and why does it exist? Because of stereotypes, which like all stereotypes exist for a very good reason. There are alot of swahili men with a very practical outlook in regards to money and future, and alot of tourists,-on vacation therefore out for a thrill, and alot of underconfident white women wishing for love in the world. And the combination of these 3 factors leads to a stereotype about the real reason white women come to zanzibar that outside of my village and 5km surrounding is rather impossible to break in all but an experienced few. (Before venting my frustrations on the matter it should be noted how I very much love my immediate surroundings, treasure the people, and treasure the respect I recieve at the school...its just outside of that 5km radius where things get frustrating)
For more than one reason I hate it. I hate it, cause after 1 year and a half almost of enduring it I am dead tired of it. I hate it cause I am in almost a constant state of aggression to get respect despite the double whammy of being white and female (there's no such thing as mzungu privilege here) and I am a person who likes to please, I like people to like me. I worry that I won't be able to step back from this aggressive response to life when I get back in the states and already it invades my normal life in ways I don't like. And I hate it because it makes me stereotype in response too. Any swahili male approaches and I instantly adopt an icy stand-offish attitude if they are friendly. And once in a while I think its so possible that they are just being nice, but what will they see? They'll know that white women are rude only. And yet what can I do otherwise given the situation. The fact is nothing, and that is a hard decision (at least for me) to come by. (Which by the way is something I notice in general. I feel like Africa, or at least Zanzibar and Tanzania, is the land of the hard decisions. Where, some 1st world morals get waysided for the general good....or at least its hard to say your decision was right or wrong, only you can say that it needed to be made...but maybe thats life, and I'm only seeing it now)

And yet as maddening as the experience has been at times I know its positive in some ways too. The buddhists are right about some things. Suffering can be so positive in its educational quality. Its not like I read about racial stereotypes in a book. Its not like a teacher involved me in an activity to talk about gender roles, or I did a report on it. The kind of experience i gain here is incalcuable in its depth of understanding. I know what its like and I could never again have anything but empathy for the frustrations and anger that different groups have against stereotypes and assumptions. Especially immigrants, god bless the strength they must have to do what they do. I mean its SOOO true, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there. It really really REALLY doesn't. You talk to a PC guy and he might tell you this friend he knows is really great!, and then you talk to that same PC guy's female friends and they'll tell you a completely different story bout this "friend". And this guy only realizes his "friend" is alittle rude to women, not the extent, cause this "friend" doesn't act like that around him so much.
Now obviously this is Zanzibar not America. But after living here, gaining this knowledge about assumptions acted out by people based on race and gender, and having different people...(men, sorry dudes) doubt my experience, or minimize it, because they've never had such a problem or noticed it, it has made me take a hard look at my previous attitude in the states about how much race at least affects things in the states. Not saying I know what its like too be black in the U.S., I'm saying specifically now that I don't know, and I won't assume to know anymore.
On another note, how bout an interesting story about 1st world, 2nd world and 3rd world. According to what I've heard now these are not accurate terms to describe developing and developed countries. After all, ever notice how theres no 2nd world countries?
So where they come from is the cold war apparently. 1st world was U.S. and all its allies, 2nd world was Soviets and all their allies, 3rd world was everybody else. Only now there's no 2nd world and I've notice that basically everyone who embraced western culture...aka u.s. canada and western europe tends to be 1st world, and everyone else, something else. Though its changed some now with asian countries doing better. But anyway, better term is developing countries and developed.

But thats all I got for now!
Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE!!!!
and Mom!!! :)

New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:13:00 +0000

So how've things been on the island? Great. Really great. What have I been up to?

Starting school, scuba diving, drinking scotch and building christmas bonfires on beach with Zimbabweans and South Africans, gourmet cooking(sting ray or eel alfredo anyone?) dancing the night away and new years skinny dipping, raising money to build desks so my students won't sit on the floor, fiinding money to send my fellow teachers abroad to college, applying for future jobs....maybe antartica? Maybe?!
Yep so its been a really busy last few weeks. Sorry no writing. But first, FIRST.

THANK YOU!!!! To everyone who donated or helped convinced people to donate to my project. It worked. The grants in. It worked!! What I mean is, all the money has been donated. This means that the money has been collected in washington. Of course, as we all know, it takes a little bit to get money from washington, to the actual beneficiaries. So right now, waiting until washington sends the check to PC Tanzania. And then after gotta wait until PC tanzania deposits the money in my bank. I estimate at least a couple weeks. Such is life.
But step one accomplished so I think its important to stay happily focused on this.
School has started as I mentioned, and I think I'll be teaching Form 4 physics, and math and form 3 physics. Which just means I'll follow the form 3's from last year forward. Interesting.
What do I think? Its cool with me, life is good.
As to break, it was quite exciting and good. Visitin and visiting! I felt like a social butterfly. For New years a whole bunch of people came to my island and we went to a hotel on the beach. By the way, its B E A U T I F U L . yup. And we stayed for like 3 days there just hanging on the beach. Sometimes its nice to do nothing. Really. Anyway, didn't do exactly nothing. Danced the new years night away. Also jumped into the Indian Ocean at midnight to celebrate the dawn of 08! Oh yea.
Next day sadly I had to cut short the vacation to head back home. But got lots of rest that night and afterwords the next day, was all fresh and ready for the start of school. Then that night got some visitors. New guy and old friend stopped by for a couple days to see my site. Very great. We had some scrumptious gourmet meals...one night calamari and octupus, half sauteed in an Alfredo sauce and half boiled. To that we added garlic mashed potatoes and shark with lime and spinach. Then the next night we gave our sting ray and eel the same treatment, also including spinach and garlic mashed potatoes. Delicious! All of this included copius amounts of fresh slushi-esk tamarind juice.
And now we're in Dar es Salaam, for our mid-service conference. Its a good place to be and full of free internet!!! (At the pc lounge that is). Myself I'm happy and I'm in with all my training class and its great. Got my teeth cleaned and getting my TB status checked.
The one sorta exciting thing that is happening now is that about 40 of the PC Kenya volunteers are currently in the country right now. They've been evacuated because of the election violence going on there and so they are chillin at a hotel in our country at the moment. The rest are in other locations.
So thats life for now. Hope all is well on your all's side of the world and I will say baadaye, for now.
Lata! But don't forget

THANK YOU!!!

White Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:55:00 +0000

So here's a christmas carol I wish I could hear! And see. Hope all is well in the U.S., and next year, will sing it for real

I'm dreamin of a white Christmas
just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
to hear, sleighbells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
with every Christmas card I write
may your days be merry and white!
And may all your Christmases be white

Happy Siku Kuu

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:30:00 +0000

Siku Kuu, is just a way to say holiday in Kiswahili. So happy holidays! Here, I've just gone through my second Eid al Hajj (the festival surrounding a devout Muslims trip to Mecca), and it was great. Even better than the first in some ways - the main way being that the 5 day dance-party that lasts till 4 am each night outside my window didn't work out this year, speakers bad or something...I was of course crushed! - But yea. Took lots of pictures again, I think I'm getting the hang of this lighting thing...and color backgrounds etc. better. People LOVE it when I take pictures here. Its cool. But really annoying sometimes too. Like when you are tired and its late and 30 people want their pictures taken...But hey!
I went to an Eid party, where they had drums banging and kids dancing and it was really beautiful and I just wanted to take a gazillon pictures. I kid you not, all the people, it was like a field of flowers!! It was so pretty, there are so many colors! I LOVE how not afraid of colors they are, they just go with it. Greens, pinks, yellows, blues, sparkles, shimmer, lace, and puff! They just run with it. Anyway, I got about 3 pictures off- one of one of my favorite little kids Ahmed, he's adorable - before I was literally SURROUNDED in kids. They were about 3 deep, circling me, all clamoring for me to take THEIR pictures. As in 50 pictures at once! So I had to put away the camera, cause now people were stopping paying attention of the drummers and dancers and starting to pay attention to the white girl! Talk about being the life of the party. Anyway after about 5 minutes of various adults helping to disperse the kids I was able to sit down and enjoy the end of the party.
Hows it there? Its literally been a very strange christmas season here. I've not yet heard any christmas music on anything. Though I did find a few cards to send to people. I hope you get them! Tomorrow is christmas eve and its so strange to not hear christmas music till then at church! But it should be fun. I hum things to myself anyway, and think what I would play on the piano if I could. I miss everyone, but at least next year, I'll see people for christmas (Insha allah!) You know too, as much as christmas may be way to commercialized in the U.S., it is nice to have a whole SEASON of it! I mean minus presents etc, its just nice that everyone can get an excuse to be kinder and pleasant. Heres to next year having a christmas season!
But until that point, wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:44:00 +0000

more school pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:34:00 +0000