The Serengeti

What is the best way to give a proper goodbye to a country that has been home for four months? (Don’t answer that – there is really no good way) In an attempt to do so, a three-day camping/safari trip in The Serengeti seemed to be well suited.

Pulling up to a campsite to find giraffes claiming their spot and listening to lions roar at night while looking up at a blanket of stars was the perfect semi-conclusion (I may be back!) to my adventures in Tanzania. 

The Arusha School

Four months ago I walked into a school expecting to be a volunteer teachers assistant and help 3^rd grade students learn English, only to find myself alone in a classroom with 35 kids looking up at me.  The director said, “Teach them something” and went on his way.  Since then I had been going to The Arusha School every Tuesday and I did my best at breaking an apparent language barrier and dealing with my lack of teaching experiences. We wrote letters to America one week (Thanks Trina!!!) to a 3^rd grade class with the hopes of a response.  The 35 letters on green construction paper filled with stories and drawings from Tanzania were off.

Just before the program trip to Zanzibar I taught the class like I did every Tuesday morning expecting to return after the break.  The class was dismissed at lunch and as they all ran out the door, one student stayed behind to say she would miss me and that she didn’t receive her letter from America yet.  I told her that I would only be gone for one week and then I would return with the letters and my sister to give them to her and the rest of her classmates. That was when I found out that the school would be closed for the month of April.  Standing in an empty classroom completely unprepared for the information that was so abruptly handed to me I had no idea when or if I would be able to see the students again or when I would be able to give their letters to them. 

Yesterday I was able to go back to The Arusha School with letters in hand prepared to finally give the students of 3B what I promised them. Sitting outside the headmaster’s office I heard “Teacher Brittany!” and a few of the students came running, filling my heart with an indescribable joy. I went to the classroom only to find it had been padlocked shut and no one had opened it or known that it was closed for at least a day. So we gathered in another room, with as many of the students that we could find, and I handed them their long awaited letters…

Although I was not able to teach them for the month of April or properly hand them all their letters and have them write responses to the students in America, I was able to witness the power of connection.  People are the same everywhere – while we may grow and learn in different environments and battle different roadblocks we can still all share in the same simple joys of life. 

The Classroom

School yard

The doors connecting people are everywhere; will you keep them closed or open them all?

"Mzungu how are you!"

After a week of traveling in South Africa I rediscovered all the small things I love about Arusha again.  Speaking Kiswahili, greetings that go on for minutes, and giggling children singing, “Mzungu how are you!”

Cape Town, South Africa had much to offer, with its absolutely stunning landscapes, it is no surprise so many people vacation there. I had an incredible time (one that once again I am at a loss of words for... so here are some pictures!) but it is nice to be back at what has been my home for the past three months. 

Table Mountain from Robben Island

Nelson Mandela's Cell

View from the top of Table Mountain

Vineyards

Cape of Good Hope

Shipwreck from 1900

Mombasa

Here is one for the bucket list:

Take a ride through Kenya to Mombasa on a lime green and yellow local bus company called RAQUIB.  WARNING: this is only for the incredibly daring, you will fear for your life 90% of the time. 

I opened my eyes and found myself looking straight out the window to the red clay ground of Kenya.  I closed and opened my eyes again and the bus had moved to the other side of the road allowing me to see the sky this time. The bus had been going from side to side of the semi-paved roads making the bus tip at a 45 degree angle which made it seem rather likely that we would tip. Holding my breath eventually got old and the herds of elephants we saw in passing easily distracted my mind. When we first noticed the elephants the rest of the bus laughed at our excitement. One word of advice if you do embark on such a journey: be weary of what you eat and drink- stopping en route does not exist and neither does the concept of overbooking- there is ALWAYS more room to squish on a bus. The 10 hour ride of ups and downs (literally speaking) of course was well worth it.

Tide pools

Mombasa was yet another stunningly beautiful city, similar to that of Zanzibar with its Arabic influences. We got a chance to walk around Old Town (a lot like Stone Town) and see Fort Jesus- it was actually designed in the shape of a man on a cross by the Portuguese.

The beautifully intricate door frames begin like this

One of the days we had the amazing opportunity to see a school in the Mtepani village that a friend of mine is deeply connected with.  It is a primary school in the process of expansion and its growth has been phenomenal. While being there, we met many of the families of the children who attend the school, one of which appropriately initiated me .... what a better way than to be peed on? Also while being there, the term 'community' fully showed itself to me.

Classroom

The mango tree where classes were first held

THIS IS COMMUNITY

Paradise

I am at the midway point of my adventures in Tanzania and what a better way to celebrate a midterm break than on the powdered sugar soft sand and crooked streets of Zanzibar?  

Zanzibar IS paradise and since a picture is worth a thousand words here are several for you to read.

A monkey named Waka Waka (yes, after the Shakira song)
that jumped right over to me- not because of love but because
I had a full bottle of Sprite that he took and finished off!

The clearest water I have seen

Day 1 of vacation was spent relaxing on the stunning beaches of the northern part of the island and then later at the open market in Stone Town where vendors sold an abundance of fresh seafood.

Where slaves were kept

 

The following day we took a boat ride to Prison Island where we snorkeled and then went back to Stone Town and visited a church that was once a former slave market.

 

DOLPHINS! We took another boat ride the following day to swim with wild dolphins in the Indian Ocean. We had to get our flippers and snorkeling gear on and wait with our feet over the edge of the boat until our guide said "JUMP!" We would quickly get in the water and follow the dolphins as they swam on on the bottom of the ocean floor. 

The last few days consisted of spice tours, music, seafood and stumbling in and out of small stores while getting 'lost' in Stone Town.

SPICE TOUR!

Amazing coffee bar/ bed and breakfast we
stumbled upon while wandering the
streets of Stone Town

Candles lit the way through the beautiful
doors of Zanzibar to the music concert

 Let me help you interpret this one: Taking a taxi in Zanzibar will consist of a crazy driver named Jambo Jambo who will pick you up before getting gas.  Then, after stalling a bit, pulling over, taking a canteen out of his trunk, hopping on a vespa, and leaving his car and all his passengers in it on the side of the road. Five minutes later he will return with a canteen full of gas and use a cut up water bottle as a funnel to pour the gas in the tank. And the only thing you will be able to say is T.I.A (this is Africa)!

Life is wonderful. THINK ABOUT IT!