First day home and feelings about going home

I had mixed feelings about going home. It seemed like it would be weird and good at the same time. On the flight from DC to Boston, I talked to a woman who works for the USDA. She was going to Boston for a conference or something. The DC-Boston flight was short as usual. 12/8/08: First day at home Today was my first full day back home. I woke up early, at around 9 am. I walked to Trader Joes in the cold. I went by K-mart in the afternoon to see about working there over winter break. Overall, I pretty much settled back into being home. 12/12/08:First Friday at home Only noteworthy because today I realized that I was bored of being home already. Actually, there is still stuff to do, but soon, I will be bored and longing to go back to school. Today I spent some time unpacking my backpack This will probably be the last Africa blog entry. Hope you have enjoyed reading my Blog

Journey home

12/6/08: We awoke at 5:00 and packed up our stuff. We took a 5:30 cab to the airport and got there a little after 6am. Our flight was delayed for about 2 hours. So, we needn't have arrived at the airport so early, but better to get there early than to have missed our flight. The flight was fine, and it went pretty fast. I watched 3 movies, played some cards, and listened to my ipod. I had almost a whole row to myself, and in general, the plane was pretty empty. Getting my bag and getting through customs in London was pretty slick. I spent the night in the airport with some others from my group. We slept in a nook that was near some computers and some restaurants. I didn't sleep very well at all that night, I think because of all the light. 12/7/08: Around 3 am, I got up and used the internet. Afterwards, I tried to fall asleep, but I was unsuccessful. Around 5am, I got up, changed, and packed up my stuff. I then checked my bag. Luckily, I was able to get on a considerably earlier flight out of London. Rather than leaving at 12:40, I left at 7:40. If all went according to plan, I would get home at about 2pm. The London to DC flight was fine, but it left late, and so I missed my connection. Luckily there was one to Boston at 1:45 that I was able to catch. The London flight was also pretty boring because the movies weren't as good, and I couldn't think of much to do.

Arusha/Return to Nairobi

12/3/08: In the morning we checked out of the hotel and moved into a different one that was a lot nicer. The rooms were suites. They had a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a tub. Despite the nice room, the beds were hard as rocks. The internet was free so I spent a lot of time on it. 12/4/08: Today I had my Swahili oral exam. It wasn't too hard. Once I finished, I was done with my academic obligations for the semester. Sweet! 12/5/08: Today thirteen of us began our journey back to Nairobi. We rode in a bus, and took up most of the room inside of it. The ride took about 8 hours. It would have been faster, but we hit traffic on the way into Nairobi. The hotel that I had planned to stay in didn't work out, so I ended up staying with 4 other people in a different hotel. Apparently the hotel I had planned to stay at was in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, at least that's what my Swahili teacher said.In the hotel we ended up staying in, we shared a triple. 3 people slept in the beds, and two slept on the floor. We all went to bed pretty early because we had to get up at 5:00 to take a taxi to the airport to catch our flight to London.

Journey back to Arusha

12/1/08: Today we woke up early and began our journey back to Arusha. We drove about 7-8 hours to the campsite that we were planning to stay at. The campsite was on the floor of the Rift Valley. It was humid and hot at the campsite. The campsite was near Lake Natron and near a waterfall 12/2/08: In the morning we walked to a waterfall. It was cool to see and to swim in. The water didn't look that dirty, but it was full of sand. I might still have sand in my shorts from swimming in the water Afterwards, we loaded into the Unimogs. We drove for a little and arrived at Lake Natron. There were tons of flamingos there. The lake is a breeding ground for flamingos. In the evening, at around 6, we arrived at our hotel in Arusha. The hotel was decent and I got to take a warm shower, which was nice after being in the bush for a month.

The Maasai homestay

In the morning on Thursday (Thanksgiving), we walked over to the secondary school. The classrooms were cylindrical with a pointed roof. In the afternoon we returned to the school to be picked at random for our Maasai homestay. The first night was pretty interesting, and a little awkward. Many people's mothers didn't speak any Swahili. Luckily, mine did so we were able to communicate a little without the translator. That night I attempted to milk a cow. I was not successful. The home I was in was hot, smoky, and full of flies. Although it was Thanksgiving, it did not feel like it. I suppose, Thanksgiving only matters if you are in the US. Friday: In the morning I attempted to milk a cow again. This time I succeeded. After breakfast, which consisted of tea and chapati, I went with my mother to get water at a nearby stream. We filled up the jugs with a cup. I carried it back on my head. It was really hard to do. I'm glad I don't have to do it every day like they do. Later we got fire wood, which I again carried back on my head. Carrying the wood was a lot easier than carrying the water. Saturday: Saturday was very similar to Friday. We milked the cow, gathered water and firewood, and cooked. Sunday: In the morning, I fetched water and packed up my stuff. Afterwards, I hung out in my small, smoky, buggy, hot home. Health: I noticed during my three days with the Maasai that some of the kids had a cough. It seemed to be that the more time spent in the home, the worse the cough. One of the little kids coughed a lot. I wonder how harmful the home conditions are to the overall health of the Maasai women who spend so much time in the smoke. Flies: The kids were covered in them. They must have gotten used to them, because I couldn't handle them any where near my face. In the afternon I returned to camp. we served our mothers lunch. There was so much rice. It filled up a pot that seemed like the equivalent of two lobster pots. It was nice to have a chance to shower after being around all the smoke and flies. After lunch, the Maasai women held a market. I bought a couple of necklaces. Afterwards, the Maasai left. The following day, we began our journey back to Arusha. Photos: Top left: Maasai home (not mine) Top middle: my boma Top right: my mom milking a cow Bottom left: one of my Maasai brothers Bottom right: more siblings, the main room of the house

Days before the Maasai homestay

On Tuesday we arrived at our campsite near the Maasai homestay. On Wednesday, we learned what it was like to be both a Maasai women and a Maasai man. The women do pretty much everything. All the men do is herd animals and sit around. The homestays were sponsored by the pastoral women's council. The pastoral women's council is a non-governmental organization that focuses on educating women, and giving them more authority to control their lives. That night we were taught some Maasai words that would be useful during the homestay. I didn't remember any of the words though.

The Serengeti

After spending a night on the rim of the crater, we headed out. We drove around the serengeti. We stopped at Olduvai Gorge and at the shifting sands. The gorge was a site where some hominid remains had been found. Shifting sands is a mound of sand that moves a little bit every year. We found a mummified frog, and several dead dung beetles in the sand. The whole area was a little creepy. That afternoon we arrived at our campsite on the outside of the serengeti. We stayed at that campsite for a few days. It was very windy there. My tent was blown down, and others were damaged in the wind. One of the days, we walked to a hippo pool. The pool smelled terrible because of hippo defecation and the lack of moving water. We had our test in bio the final full day we were there. It wasn't too difficult. On monday morning we moved to the campsite near where we would be doing our Maasai homestay.