Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season with those closest to you. I had the good fortune to go home over Christmas break. Well, I say ‘good’ fortune; it was good once I finally arrived in Florida. I arrived in NYC amidst all of the snowstorms and weather chaos. My flight to Florida was cancelled and I couldn’t find another flight out on any airline for days. At this time I was also reminded of the miracle we call cell phones. I didn’t have one and it made things a nightmare. Do you realize how difficult it is to find working pay phones anymore?! After waiting in hours of lines and calling airports all around New York and New Jersey, I opted to take the ‘adventurous’ route and drive to my aunt’s house in Virginia, where I would take a plane to Tampa the next day. I rented the only car that was still available and hit the road, oddly content as at least I was in the country and didn’t have a language barrier to hurdle amidst it all! Jet lagged and exhausted, I set out. As I navigated my way out of the city I began reviewing the precautionary steps when driving in ice and snow. If you hit ice and spin do you turn with the car or against it? Do you brake or not? I admit I’ve never actually driven in cold weather before, so these questions were a bit daunting. I decided to compare the ice to still water on the road during a Florida storm. Seems logical, right?!

Banks of freshly fallen snow covering cars up to their roofs and icicles hanging from bare tree branches provided beautiful scenery as I drove. As the sun set, the hues of orange and yellow that danced across the sky were reflected in the white snow, making it shine like jewels. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility. The silence brought by winter allowed me to see that in the midst of my travel exhaustion and frustrations God makes himself known. He provided a way for me to get home and made it a stunning ride as well.

After 19 hours of flying, 6 hours of airport lines, and 10 hours of driving I finally arrived at my Aunt Sharon’s. I think I actually cheered a little as I drove into her driveway. The drive brought another blessing in disguise, which was being able to visit some family I wouldn’t otherwise have seen over Christmas. Martin family, thank you for welcoming in my smelly, exhausted, and pathetic looking self that night!

I flew out of Newport News the next afternoon and finally arrived in Tampa. The unusually cold Florida weather caught me by surprise, though it was a welcome change from the heat that I had escaped. The next two weeks were spent in the wonderful company of family and friends. I apologize for not seeing many of you; the downside to such a short trip is that there is never enough time to see everyone.

While I was in Venice I was plagued with the same feeling that accompanied me when I used to go home from college and visit: although I love being with my family and around everything that is comforting and known, I didn’t feel as though I completely belong in Venice. It is a safe place, rejuvenating to the mind and heart, but not one in which I can function for an indefinite amount of time. I visited Orlando, where I lived the last four years, and for the first time, it didn’t feel like home either and neither does Dar now. For the first time in my life, I’m struggling with this definition of ‘home’. If ‘home’ is where you do life then that’s Dar, but if home is where the heart is, then I’m not sure where that is. A piece of my heart is in Venice with my family and old friends and a piece of it is in Orlando with my friends and college memories. Dar is where I do life. It’s a great career move. It teaches me valuable life lessons and provides me with experiences unequivocal to those I could get in the states, but it is not where my heart is. I do not regret moving here (okay- I do curse moving here when I have no power and water!), but I have not yet made those connections with people that would make this ‘home’. And that’s what home is to me I suppose: doing life in a place where you have strong relationships with those around you. I know that relationships with people you have only recently met take time; I am getting to know some wonderful people here. Who knows, I may call this ‘home’ by the time I eventually leave, but right now I’m stuck in a rut of not quite being content with where I am but also not knowing where else I’d want to go. Am I dealing with ‘homesickness’ or searching for ‘home’? I’m not sure, but I’m struggling with it more now that I’m back from the states than I was when I first arrived. While Dar isn’t terrible, it is not on my list of favorite places in terms of ease and enjoyable living. These frustrations associated with living in a developing country don’t help my feeling of being unsettled. Okay, enough of my moaning. I am blessed with so much and I know that where there is emptiness in my soul my Lord will fill it. In this promise I will press on, focusing on the good around me.

One of those ‘good’ moments came in the form of a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). My Dar to USA flight was through Emirates airline and all trips go through Dubai. When booking my ticket, it didn’t cost any extra money to make the connection into an extended layover. Robin, my teacher friend who also accompanied me to Egypt, flew to the states with me. We met back in NYC at the end of our trip and flew to UAE to spend 4 nights and 3 full days. Dubai has been in the news lately because it’s the state of the art modern city that would have gone bankrupt without the bailout from their neighboring emirate (state) Abu Dhabi. Dubai has also recently been the subject of media attention because the week we were there it opened what is now the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower).

The Burj Dubai reaches an astounding 2,717 feet and has 160 floors which are comprised of office spaces, residential apartment for $4,000/sq ft., a mosque, and the world’s highest hotel, the Armani hotel. After purchasing a $30.00 ticket to the world’s tallest observation deck on the 124th floor, Robin and I eventually got to the front of the line and stepped into the fastest elevator in the world, which reached 40 m.p.h. The management team of this building definitely ensured that everything about this building was over the top. The elevator ride was better than many amusement rides. Aside from not being able to actually feel the movement of the elevator at all or any corresponding ear popping, the inside of the elevator was dark. Its walls were black and had small blue lights behind glass designs shaped like the building layout flush to the walls. There was also a flat screen tv built into each wall. As you rose, the tvs rolled with scenes of sky and clouds taken from the perspective of being in them. The lights on the walls illuminated rising up again and again in a staggered pattern so that, in conjunction with the tv and the airy music from the speakers above, made you feel as though you really were rising up. The view at the top was stunning, making the stomach a bit queasy when looking straight down. In keeping with Dubai’s constant effort to be the biggest and the best in everything possible, its commitment to cleanliness certainly is incredible. Nowhere did I ever see liter or any signs of neglect. Even around the mall they had people walking around erasing scuff marks from people’s shoes!

Dubai can be described as Disney World meets Las Vegas in its presentation. It is its own fantasy world, catering to any desire, pushing the boundaries of prosperity, amazing its observer with futuristic concepts and innovations, offering an over abundance of choices, and costing a small fortune! The blending of an Islamic country and Western culture creates an interesting feel to the city. Scenes such as a burqa-clad woman next to another in tight jeans and a halter top left me with the sense that the city really has no identity as its own but rather adopts cultures and customs of all of its visitors. The idea that women in Dubai have so many more freedoms than do women in other Middle Eastern cultures, especially that of its neighbor Saudi Arabia, left me all the more baffled and confused by the line between Islamic expectations and Middle Eastern culture.

This fascination with the Middle East that I had acquired since moving to Tanzania and then even more since visiting Egypt fueled by desire to buy multiple topic oriented books from a bookstore in the Dubai Mall, the world’s largest mall-of course! The book I’m currently reading, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years (by Bernard Lewis), “…charts the history of the Middle East…from the birth of Christianity through the modern era, focusing on the successive transformations that have shaped it.” I’m not yet a quarter of the way through it but so far it’s an amazing read.

Robin and I spent two whole days in Dubai visiting malls (with aquariums, ice skating rinks, and ski slopes inside!), walking through the gold market in the historic neighborhood, visiting mosques, and trying our best to figure out this over the top concept of Dubai. On our last full day we rented a car early in the morning and took a twelve hour road trip around other emirates (states) in the country. We drove through the Hatta Mountains and the desert sand dunes, along the UAE-Oman border and the Gulf of Oman. The scenery was beautiful and the drive enjoyable.

Looking back on my brief visit to UAE, I deduce that I am glad that I went, especially since the airline didn’t charge me extra. I was able to experience some amazing concepts and designs as well as adding more fuel to the fire of my fascination with the Middle East. Having said that comparing it to all of the other places I have been, I would not recommend a visit for the sole purpose of vacationing in Dubai. It was, however, successful in equipping me with the last few 1st world conveniences I needed to buy before heading back to Tanzania!

I arrived back in Dar three days before school started, which left me with some time to catch up a bit and prepare for the coming term. My arrival also signaled the beginning of my additional role as the new Team Leader for Grade Two. This leadership position is exciting, and the extra work load is forcing me to become a stronger teacher.

My arrival also brought with it some negative ‘welcome home’ presents. First, I was met with an infestation of flying termites in my bedroom. They are absolutely everywhere! One of my bedroom walls is occupied entirely by a built in wardrobe. The termites are feasting on the entire wardrobe as well as my wooden ceiling. The ceiling is an even greater problem because their bodies and wings are falling all over my room. I nightly pick off the dozen or so that have fallen through my mosquito net and onto my bed since my housekeeper left, then I do yet another sweep of the floor and dusting of the furniture to collect their little bodies-yuck! I will have to move everything out of my bedroom later this week when the construction men come to redo my entire bedroom ceiling and replace my built in wardrobe. The rest of my house also needs a new ceiling, but since the little pests aren’t showing themselves yet we will wait until I am away during summer break.

In the midst of this, my hot water heater died as well as my fridge, spoiling all of my meat and dairy. With tons of pent up frustration, I called my ever-amazing parents and had a minor breakdown. I’m since doing much better with a new refrigerator and water heater and a ceiling on the way. It’s times such as these that I can only smile and think of what great stories these will be in years to come.

I have taken pictures of my school and classroom but will wait to take pictures of my house until the bedroom work is completed. As soon as it is finished, I will make a video of my house and post it all at once so that you can finally see where I live. The following link will allow you to view my UAE pictures; I hope that you enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2533148&id=5132789&l=6fa953e7bf

It's Getting Warmer!

It’s now officially summer here and it’s surely heating up. The humidity and temperature are rising as are the foul body odors from the locals! I’ve been here for about 4 months and last week I finally experienced my first meltdown. All of the cultural changes that I experience, some good and some not so good, finally got the best of me. I had a good cry and venting session with Mom & Dad on the phone and then slept it off. Although my circumstances haven’t changed, I feel as though I’ve dealt with my frustrations and can now better cope. I’ve finally begun to get my patience back. While beautiful and rewarding in MANY ways, life in a third world country also comes with difficulties. The lack of proper governmental systems and corruption therein cause problems at many levels. For instance, there is not an efficient trash management system, so it piles up everywhere. Locals burn it on the sides of the street, and I unfortunately deal with the strong smell of burning plastic wafting into my house all too often. I’m also about 1 block from the water. Sounds nice, right? In theory it would be, but the location next to my house is the exact dumping area for all of the untreated sewage. So, this means that any time we get a nice breeze coming in from the ocean, the smell of crap makes its way into my house. I can feel the brain cells being burned off my plastic fume inhalation and can taste literally taste shit (excuse my French)---oh the joys! Another frustration is that in the last two weeks I’ve gotten stuck in the shower when the water has gone out six times! This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I cannot allow myself to sit here and tell you too much all at once for two reasons: 1) I’ll get all anxious about it once again and 2) I don’t want to paint too grizzly a picture or you won’t even consider coming to visit me!!

It took about 12 weeks, but now I feel as though I’m settled in to teaching and am finally starting to enjoy it! A few weeks ago the school celebrated International Day. This is a day where each student represents the country of his mother and/or father and the place that is considered ‘home’. The entire school, dressed up in their national attire, separated into groups based on the represented countries and did a parade around campus, ending in the gym. Here a couple groups did presentations for the assembly. India put on a fashion show; Japan did a martial arts routine, etc. We had a UN representative who works in Tanzania come and speak to the kids about the global community too. Throughout the rest of the day the parents grouped themselves by continent and then had tables within that continent to spotlight their individual countries. Each table had food, an activity, pictures, etc. Classes were given time to go around and visit each continent and learning about the countries. There was a Chinese calligrapher doing the kids’ names on rice paper. The Netherlands had wooden shoes to try on, South Africa had a sand pit set up to go digging for diamonds. India did henna on students’ hands, Mexico had chips, salsa, and maracas, and the list goes on and on. What a great day this was—definitely my favorite so far! These parents went above and beyond in creating wonderful food and activities to represent their countries. I was amazed at how much work they put into it! The kids and I all had a fantastic time learning about the places their peers are from. I’ve certainly got a lot more ideas about where I’d like to vacation next! Because I celebrated the U.S.A. I borrowed an Obama dress from another teacher who had it made during the election. I’ve never had so many comments on an outfit before either! In the first link at the bottom I’ve included a few pictures from International Day. On a side note, I’ve also added some pictures from Halloween. Since a few friends and I just came back from Egypt, we decided to be Egyptian queens. The costumes were bought while we were in Cairo.

I’m sorry for not posting this blog and my Egypt pictures sooner; I’ve been trying to catch up since my return. A few weeks ago I spent a week traveling along the Nile. I loved Egypt more than I had even anticipated! The above map shows you what parts of the country we visited. A lot of ground was covered in 7 short days, and I learned so much history! I knew that I would love Egypt the moment that the plane began its decent into Cairo. Staring out the airplane window as I always do, I became mesmerized the topography of the land. The formation of the Sahara Desert caused by the wind made for breathtaking views. As my vision was transfixed on the seemingly endless amount of sand, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to live my life as part of a nomadic tribe, many of whom still roam the desert today. Then I shifted my thought process to what it must have been like for the Israelites thousands of years ago, wandering around aimlessly and hopelessly lost in that same desert for 40 years. While fascinating from above, the thought of living in it terrified me! This moment of fearful imagination abruptly ended as I witness a complete and sudden change of terrain. There it was before me-the infamous River Nile. From its banks, stretching east and west about a mile in each direction was some of the most dense, lush vegetation that I have ever seen. Now I know what she meant when my middle school history teacher referred to this region as the ‘fertile Nile valley’ (Thanks Mrs. Norris; I know you’re reading this!). This green, flourishing land continued to amaze me during the entire week that we lived along its banks.

We commenced our first day of explorations by touring the Giza pyramids and Sphinx. It’s difficult to judge size in a photograph, but the pyramids were considerably larger than I had imagined! Our tour guide, a woman who possessed a four year degree in Egyptian history relating to tourism, was an abundant wealth of information, really making the past stories come alive. We also took a short 15-20 minute camel ride between the pyramids.

As you can see from my pictures, the air looks quite foggy. What you are seeing is actually pollution. Being known as one of the most polluted cities in the world, it was virtually impossible to get a good view of the cityscape from the pyramids, which are a bit higher than the rest of the metropolis. This even affected me physically; it burned my eyes and throat and clogged up my lungs! Otherwise though, I loved Cairo!

We spent the afternoon visiting the Egyptian Museum. A new museum, due to open in 2011, is currently under construction, and can’t be built soon enough, in my opinion! The existing museum houses over 150,000 artifacts but only has room for roughly half of that, so you can imagine how things are packed in! Hardly any of the relics were hidden behind plexiglass or another form of protection, let alone named or explained for the casual observer to understand there significance. We thankfully had the same guide we hired for the pyramids, because we wouldn’t have been able to survive without her. With her extensive expertise, I had one of the most enjoyable museums experiences of my life. It was incredible to be looking at pieces that are over 5,000 years old and understand the big picture rise and eventual fall of the Egyptian empire.

We spent the evening of this event-packed day at the Khan el Khalili, a lively and exotic souk that was established in the early 1300s in the heart of Islamic Cairo. This city-within-a-city has endless alleys to explore with an equally infinite array of products for sale: hookah, silver, jewels, spices, needlepoint, and pottery, fabrics, and most anything else under the sun. It is a place full of character, one where everyone wants your time, your attention, and your money. It’s a place where you can practice your haggling skills over a cup of the shopkeeper’s mint tea and leave with lifelong memories. The colorful artwork provides endless stimulation of sight, while your nose tingles with the scents of dozens of exotic spices, incense, and leather. The events of the day quickly caught up with me, however, and I was exhausted and trudged ‘home’ after just a few hours.

The next day we caught an early morning flight down to the city of Aswan. Here we visited the high dam, which, never being one to find water or hydroelectric power very fascinating, actually caught my interest. I won’t bore you with the details of it, but the huge benefits and drawbacks create quite an interesting story. The other piece of this dam’s historical significance is the part which the U.S. and Russia played in its coming to fruition. Again, I don’t want to loose half of my readers here, so I won’t go into the details, but if you’re interested I highly encourage you to Google the Aswan High Dam and read up on it!

In Aswan we took a boat to an island that is in the middle of the Nile to see the Temple of Philae. Constuction began in roughly 300 BC and additions were made to it for the next three centuries. For this reason, it’s quite an architectural wonder, with some aspects being of original Egyptian design as well as Greco-Roman influences, as seen through the columns. This temple was amazing, its hieroglyphics looking like they had been done a mere 100 years ago. Although it was made for Egyptian gods, the temple served as a safe haven and place of worship for Coptic Christians during the time of persecution and the Roman Empire. During their inhabitance, the Christians defaced a number of the characters in the hieroglyphics, drew crosses over some of it, and actually even created an alter for sacrifices. It intrigued me to experience such a culmination of cultures represented in one single temple.

The rest of the day was spent exploring Aswan’s other minor attractions. I escaped for some ‘me time’ in the evening and walked along the banks of the Nile at sunset, watching the feluccas (sailboats) drift lazily down the majestic river while the sun cast shimmering hues of gold and brown against the mountains of sand in the backdrop.

The next morning we rose with the sun and set out on a bus journey that would eventually deliver us to Luxor. On the way north, we stopped in the cities of Kom Ombo and Edfu to view the temples made for the Egyptian gods Sobek, Haroeris, and Horus. The astonishingly well-preserved hieroglyphics coupled with the symbolism and stories they told were enough to keep me as entranced as I am when in the middle of a suspense novel.

I enjoyed the journey from Aswan to Luxor as much, if not more, than I did the temples. Driving through all of the small towns along the way gave me a peek into daily like and culture that I would not have otherwise experienced. Many small villages were built into the sides of sandy hills. Donkeys replaced cars as a means of transporting both goods and people. While stopped at an intersection, I watched a father holding his young son on the back of a donkey, teaching him how to ride. I felt like an imposter, barging in on a sacred family memory in the making. The sandy backdrop made the doorways, painted vivid colors of blues and green, seem as if they were precious jewels. As we drove parallel to the river, I was rewarded with breathtaking views of the vegetation, thick and full of life. Crops of sugar cane and corn were in abundance as were palm trees and papyrus.

We stayed at a wonderful little hotel on Luxor’s West Bank. Its picturesque, Arabian architecture and décor soothed our weary traveling souls. They had a beautiful rooftop terrace restaurant which overlooked a garden in the foreground and, on the other side of the Nile, a sweeping view of Luxor Temple. Robin (a traveling companion) and I enjoyed a calm and relaxing Egyptian dinner as the sun set. Wow-what a life God has blessed me with that I can experience such things that many only dream of! I said a prayer of extra thanks that night. After dinner, Robin and I ventured to the East Bank and visited Luxor Temple after dark. The temple’s lighting against the starless night sky created a magical visit.

Early the next morning, a tour guide and driver picked Robin and I up from our hotel. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. Luxor, earlier as known Thebes, was the capital of ancient Egypt. The Valley of the Kings serves as the burial grounds for the kings and royal nobles during the Egyptian New Kingdom, including the recently discovered tomb of King Tutankhamun. This was an unbelievably wonderful ‘open air museum’ of sorts. There are 64 known tombs in the Valley of the Kings, each ranging from one – 120 room chambers! Only a select few of them are open at any one time though. Many are often closed for restoration or further excavation. While we were there I got to see archeologists at work, still uncovering artifacts! It was so interesting to see the tombs, each of them ornately decorated and painted with intricate detail and vibrant colors. The Valley of the Kings is in an ideal location, surrounded by mountains of sand on three sides, which helped to keep out many invaders. It is said that when discovered, many of the tombs were found nearly empty, already having been cleaned out by tomb raiders. Unfortunately, no cameras were aloud inside the area, so the only pictures I have were from the outside in the parking lot.

Our next stop was at the Temple of Hatchepsut. This place had a great history lesson attached to it, but I’ll spare those of you who aren’t really history buffs. Just check out the pictures. One interesting fact, however, is that a few hundred years ago the temple was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. The Polish have since come in and taken the rubble and what was left of the freestanding structure and rebuilt it. The old fragments of the temple have been pieced together with newer materials to give it a somewhat of a mosaic look to it up close. As you’ll see in the pictures, it does look relatively new.

The tour guide, Mohammad, suggested that we alter our plans slightly and stop at the Tombs of the Workers. At this place, he said, you can see the tombs of the artists and workers who made the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Trusting our tour guide more than our tour book, we decided to ditch our initial plan and go with his suggestion. WOW-I am SO glad that we did! The artistry, painted hieroglyphics, were more stunning than I saw even in the Valley of the Kings (maybe they did a better job because it was their own tomb?!). The colors were so brilliant and bright that I would have thought they had been painted a few years ago. The preservation of them was top notch. These tombs were built in the mountain right next to the structural ruins that were once their homes. Our guide did an exemplary job explaining the cultural history of the life of a laborer. Mohammad also talked to a guard who, in exchange for a couple of dollars, allowed us to climb to the top of the worker’s temple that was currently being restored. Here we saw a wonderful landscape of the Nile Valley.

Our day ended with a tour of the extensive Karnak Temple, the largest ancient religious sight in the world. I was a exhausted from the desert heat and my head was spinning with all of the history lessons from earlier in the day, so I would love to come back and visit Karnak again, this time with a bit more excitement. Nonetheless, it was an amazing, vast structure with enough beauty and wonder to excite even those who aren’t a lover of history.

After another wonderful dinner at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, we packed our suitcases and headed to the train station, where we took a first class sleeper car the 12 hour overnight journey back up north to Cairo. I have always loved taking overnight trains. Little soothes me like the constant movement of a train along its tracks. Exhausted from a busy day, I quickly fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

I spent the last two days exploring Cairo on foot. Half of the time was spent perusing the Khan el Khalili souk and the surrounding districts more, really getting to experience the life and culture of Egypt outside of the boundaries of tourist traps. The rest of the time was spent at the City Stars Mall, a seven-story shopper’s paradise. This was heaven on Earth for me. Bigger than the Mall of America, this was the largest mall in the world until recently when a larger one opened in Dubai. Having been in Africa for the last four months, it was wonderful to be a part of Western civilization again! Many of you will have a hard time believing this, but I really didn’t buy very much, just a few basic cotton shirts. I did, however, LOVE eating at chicken fajitas at Chilis and the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays! Having filled my desire for modernism, I can now wait patiently another few months until I get to do it again in the states.

I know that this blog has been quite lengthy, and by now you’re probably wondering, “Is this trip ever going to end?”. Well, scroll down just a little more and you can see that I’m almost done-I promise! I wouldn’t, however, do a trip summary justice if I left out what I consider to be one of my most valuable learning experiences. The history was fascinating and the land was beautiful, but what arguably impacted me even more were the gender roles within an Islamic Middle Eastern country as viewed by me, a Western female traveler.

The separation of men and women is intensely obvious throughout the country, but it is more prominent outside of Cairo. In Aswan and Luxor the men and women were never seen together. They sat with their own gender at restaurants, rode with them in transport, and walked with them down the road. On one ferry ride a young man and woman sat very close to one another, and the woman affectionately had her hand on the mans shoulder. It was interesting to watch how many evil stares, whispers, head shaking, and finger pointing they received from the other Egyptians on the boat. The women seemed to vanish from view each night by the time the sun was setting. Tourists were left meandering down the roads while sheesha bars were full of men socializing and smoking hooka. Outside of Cairo it was predominantly men who were the shopkeepers, store clerks, and other jobs that interacted with people. In Cairo, however, we saw more interaction between men and women, especially at the mall where we even saw couples walking together.

I dressed conservatively by American standards, always wearing pants or long skirts, shirts with high neck lines and sleeves covering my shoulders, and often had a scarf around my neck. Still, my arms were bare and my head was not covered, causing me to feel more noticed than I do here in Dar. The Egyptian men could be annoyingly bothersome but gave no notion of harm. Like all children when seeing foreigners, it was cute to catch the kids’ stares, giggles, and whispers. Many women had a sense of curiosity that I had never before experienced. Through their stares, their eyes were filled with wonder and questions; I could see their thoughts going a thousand miles per hour-if only I could have known what those thoughts were! Women in Egypt seem to be more infatuated with the color of my hair than Tanzanians do. Quite a few times I had women come up to me and tell me how much they wish they had light colored hair. It’s always funny to me when this ‘grass is greener’ idea comes up with hair color because I am infatuated with their dark hair and eyes!

Ok, I think I need to just stop typing. I could keep going on about Egypt, but I don’t want to loose my audience! Thank you all for being so patient; I hope you enjoyed hearing about it. I HIGHLY encourage you to go to Egypt if you ever get the chance! Until next time…

HERE ARE PICTURES!

This first link is to see pictures from International Day and Halloween added to my Dar album.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462010&id=5132789&l=529aedeff9

The next link features Egypt pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2501069&id=5132789&l=c073aab1a1

Zanzibar Holiday

*Hey all! Sorry about the last false e-mail posting alert. I don't know what happened! Please also forgive me for the following blog. I haven't proofed it at all; I'm running late for a flight and just want to get this posted before I leave. I've been wanting to share some day to day details with you but haven't the time now; I'll do it soon--promise! Anyway, here is a brief recap of my last trip.

Three weeks ago my friend and I spent a long weekend in Zanzibar, a Tanzanian island off the Northeastern coast of Dar. We hopped on a ferry Saturday morning and arrived in Zanzibar 2 hours later. Even though it was our first visit to the island, Robin & I decided not to go to the tourist areas of the island, but instead to head to a small fishing village we'd heard about. There is no concrete or even dirt or grass in the entire village. Everything is built on pure white beach sand. We stayed at 'Mustapha's Place', a laid back rastafarian place where Bob Marley cds were on repeat all weekend long. As with the rest of the city, all floors, including our bungalows was sand. It had some lush foilage but overall was kind of like camping: everyone shared a toilet and shower and you had to exert energy to stay there. This was not a come and be taken care of kind of place! Because it was nearing the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, the owners were out of town visiting family and they had a friend running the place. Robin, myself, and 4 Europeans who arrived on the truck with us that morning were its only guests. The young guy running it had all of his friends hanging out the whole time and made it party central.

During Ramadan all schedules are thrown out the window and nothing can ever be assumed. Thus was the case of our stay at Mustapha's Place. The best word I have for our weekend is RANDOM. Thank God we thought to a bag of snacks, otherwis I think we would have starved. The only restaurant in the small village was the one where we were staying. And as our luck would have it, the chef was out of town. Everything that Omar, the man in charge, knew how to cook he could count on one hand, so we ate plenty of rice and fish. *Those of you who know me well know I don't eat anything that comes from the water, so I ate plenty of rice! =)

One morning a man drove us to a nearby forest to see the red colobus monkeys, a member of the critically endangered species list that is found primarily in this forest in Zanzibar. With the help of a park guide, we came upon an entire troop of them. Thankfully, it was morning and they were actively eating and playing. We were able to get within feet of them. I sat and watched them jump amongst the trees, wrestling on the ground and eating, for nearly an hour! After leaving the forest, we stopped by a conservation area that creates a protective environment for tortoises that would otherwise be hunted.

After we arrived back at our 'barracks' as I jovially refered to them, I asked Omar if he knew of anyone who could take us out snorkeling. Because it was Eid, a national holiday celebrating the breaking of the fast and official end of Ramadan, tour companies were all closed. Omar said, however, that he had a fisherman friend who would be willing to take us out in his dhow boat (traditional wooden sail boat). When we walked down to the beach the tide was out. Now, you must understand, Zanzibar low tide is unlike anything I've ever seen before. The water goes WAY out! In order to get to the fisherman who was in his boat, we had to walk out about 500 meters in water calf deep. Once we got to two dhow boats we realized that the men had just gotten done fishing; the bottom of the boat was filled with octopus! In order to make room for us to crawl in, the fisherman had to move the octopus from our dhow to the other one. Instead of walking them through the water he began lobbing them through the air, he began lobbing them through the air to the fisherman in the other dhow. I was laughing so hard that I unfortunately could not pull my camera out in time. While the snorkeling itself was fun, I will always first remember the flying ocotpus.

Later that evening we had a great dinner with Omar and his friends. We had a wonderful feast of grilled fish, rice, and tomato/cucumber salad. All of this was served family style and eaten Zanzibar style, with our hands! It was a nice time of conversation, learning about the culture of these island Tanzanians. During one conversation, Omar was discussing how while most people in Zanzibar are Muslim, not all are devout and follow it rigidly. I loved the way he explained where he is on this spectrum. He said, "Me, I am like half (making a verticle line down the middle of his body). I am half Muslim and I am half Catholic." "Catholic?" I asked, wondering how this could work. Were his parents 2 different religions? "Yes" he replied. "I am Muslim because I believe in Allah and the Koran and its teachings. I am Catholic because I do not do the daily call to prayer and do not go to the mosque every day. I also drink, smoke, and do things like that." At this, I couldn' help but laugh a bit, if only inside. I love his reasoning for being half Catholic. I guess that the polar opposite of being a devout Muslim is being a partying Catholic-lol!

The next morning we hopped into a dala dala (the back of a pickup truck that serves as the public transporation) for our one hour journey back to Stone Town, the historical neighborhood in the capital of the island. After just five minutes into our journey we stopped at another small village and 2 older foreigners got on. The lady sat directly across from me with our knees bumping against each other in the overly crowded truck. As soon as she sat down and I looked at her I recognized her. The funny thing was, I didn't know how I knew her. She looked to be in her 70s and spoke a European language to her traveling companion and a bit of Swahilli to another woman there. All of this told me that this was not a woman I know, yet her eyes captured me. I'd seen her before. Maybe she reminded me strongly of someone else I knew? But who? It drove me crazy trying to figure it out the entire ride back. I thought of talking to her but knew that I really didn't know her. How then did she seem so familiar? This question continued to bug me for the rest of the day and into the next day. All of the sudden, the next evening I figured it out! I did a quick google image search to confirm and I was right: it was Jane Goodall, the chimp lady! I knew I recognized her! She has aged significantly since I studied her as a child and read all about her in various National Geographics and such, but her eyes hadn't changed a bit. Neither had her smile. Then it made sense why she was looking at me the way she had been in the dala dala. I was very obviously staring at her the entire ride and kept smiling back at me with this mysterious smile. She knew I was trying to place her and must have been amused, wondering if I'd figure it out! All of the work she has done with the chimps is at a park here in the western part of Tanzania. I later learned that she actually has a house in Dar and also years ago used to visit my school a few times a year to talk to the kids. It was exciting, but I'm still kicking myself for not opening up my mouth in the dala dala!

Anyways, we spent the last day exploring Stone Town, whose history is quite exciting. For hundreds of years, before the colonization of the Eastern African mainland, it was the main port from which they sent resources to Asia and the Middle East. This was the home of the slave trade, where slaves were brought from the mainland and sold at market. A church in Stone Town now stands on the exact spot of the market. The old cells are still able to be visited. This city was also the homebase for African explorers, including David Livingston. The Germany ended up colonizing Stone Town, as is evident in a very Germanic architectural influence. After WWII the Germany had to give Zanzibar to the British, who then occupied it until the 1960s when it wa merged with Tanzania and gained its status as an independent country.

Because we were visiting Stone Town on Eid, which is the national holiday signaling the end of the month of Ramadan (Zanzibar is 99% Muslim), the town was packed full of islanders who came to the city to celebrate. For this reason, we didn't do as much exploring as we had wanted. Oh well, there's always next time! That afternoon we headed to the airport and jumped in small plane to the the 15 minute ride back home to Dar. It was definitely a random yet memorable trip.

Oh well, I've got to run. I'm off to Egypt for a week to vacation and my cab will be here in 15 minutes. I've got to get ready! I'll talk to you again and will have many more stories!

Here is a link to check out some pictures I took while in Zanzibar. Enjoy! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2487129&id=5132789&l=e3e66aa6f4

Settling In

Habari! It has been a while since I've posted an update; so many things occur in the first few months of living in a new place! I'll attempt to get you caught up on the shortened version of what's going on in my life in Dar.

I'm actually in the middle of experiencing the worst part of living abroad. Earlier this week my Uncle Frankie passed away after a tough battle with cancer. I knew when I left that it would probably be the last time I would see him, but that prior knowledge and preparation doesn't make it any easier to be away. I miss my family more now than I have since I have arrived; it's tough to be so far away when I want to be comforting those I love. Please pray for my entire family as we grieve our loss.

Having said that, one thing that helps me take my mind off home is the pile of work I have to do at school. I can't believe that I'm already in week 6 of teaching. The year has started out with a few bumps along the road in the way of lack of time to prepare before school started and the limited availability of resources for classroom use. My job has been incredibly time-consuming and often a bit frustrating as I get situated in the international school environment, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that it will get a bit easier soon. I do, however, have a wonderful class. There are 23 students representing over 13 countries around the world. I am 1 of only 2 people in my entire class who is not fluent in at least 2 languages; many of these students know 3-5! The diversity in my classroom is a tremendous asset to all of the students, and I'm enjoying learning from each of them as well.

Life outside of school is great. A few weekends ago I walked for about an hour through downtown to get to Kariakoo, the biggest market in Dar. It is the epitome of an African market, the heartbeat and pulse of Tanzanian city living, selling anything and everything imaginable. Within a few city blocks I saw more people in one place than I've ever seen before. It is said that on a busy Saturday afternoon (I went Saturday at 1:00!) there are upwards of 500,000 people shuffling about the asphalt roads, pushing and shoving for a spot to view goods sold in the stalls. This gathering represents the most diverse group of tribal populations in one place throughout all of Tanzania. I, however, was the only white person (mzunga) around, and for this I received quite a bit of attention.

As I was pushed through the streets by a sea of people, I inhaled the tangy smell of freshly cut pineapple before the foul scent of decaying trash and formidable body odor hit me like a heat wave when leaving a cool building and walking outside during a Florida summer. I quickly elbowed my way through the stench until I was able to take a deep breath and instead of gaging, only got a high off the diesel and greasy oil fumes that surrounded me. As cars and heavy carts attempted to plow their way through the masses, I realized that I was nothing but in the way. It was time to step aside and take it all in: the rich redness of fresh tomatoes, bright colors and patterns of African fabrics, natives haggling over item prices, and street vendors attempting to out-scream each other, vying for the attention of passers-by. Oh, the organized chaos, the adrenaline that is Kariakoo!

After my legs were literally knocked out from under me by a car that was slowly working its way through the crowds and having to crawl to safety (no joke!), I realized that I'd seen enough of the market for one day. Alas, because of the heavy amount of petty crime in the area, I didn't dare bring my camera. The market pictures you will see in the album with the link below were pulled straight from a google image search. They are, however, what I deem to be the most like what I saw during my visit.

A visit to area beaches must quickly follow thrilling yet exhausting adventures like Kariakoo. Some beach photos are included in the photo album. I've been going to the beach for at least a few hours most weekends. The idyllic, serene local beaches are all that I have experienced thus far, and I hear that the beach quality only gets better as I get out of the city. It is a wonderful way for me to escape with just one or two other people and re-energize my mind, body, and spirit.

I will have a wonderful opportunity this weekend to take a 3-4 day vacation to the island of Zanzibar, which is just off the eastern coast of Tanzania. Monday and Tuesday are public holidays celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. A fellow teacher and myself will be going to the island and spending a few days at the beach and possibly a day visiting a nearby rainforest; those pictures will hopefully be posted soon!

Last month I attended the annual Dar es Salaam Goat Races. This event is a huge gathering of the ex-patriots who come together to raise money for local charities. It's such a spectacle that I don't even know where to begin! Think Kentucky Derby. Now, think goats instead of horses. Entire tacky costumes instead of simply big, fancy hats. Beer instead of champagne. Dirt and dust instead of box seats, bleachers, concrete, and grass. Now hopefully you're starting to get a better picture of the goat races. Teams of people go in together to "own" (sponsor) a goat for the race. The team gets to name the goat and write a blurb about it for the program. The audience places bets on the goats for each of the 5 races. When it's race time, everyone gathers around the track to watch the stubborn, uninterested goats get pushed and prodded into running by men following from behind. Meanwhile, the rest of the grounds are filled with fair types of activities such as kiddie game areas, food tents, and craft tables. It was an interesting experience that I'm glad I was able to participate in and a great way to raise thousands of dollars for local charities. Pictures are included in the album.

On another note, I've been searching for a local church to attend but haven't found anything yet. I just heard of a few that other teachers attend and enjoy, so I'll be trying them over the next few weeks. I have, however, been enjoying listening to podcasts from my churches in Venice and Orlando and have enjoyed connecting with some fellow Christian teachers here at IST.

I have finally gotten unpacked and settled into my apartment quite nicely. A few weeks ago I had the walls painted, which makes it look a bit more comfy. Although it's not very big and is not as nice as an apartment in the states would be, it suits me fine and I am continuing to try my best to make it home. Over the next few weeks I'll be shopping to buy a few paintings and things to decorate the walls. I'll take some photos or video to post after I've got at least a few pictures up.

One big living adjustment is not having an entirely air-conditioned apartment. This is a huge change for a Florida girl who is addicted to AC! I do have a wall unit in my bedroom, but it cannot cool the whole house as some of my window openings elsewhere in the house have only screen and no glass. Thank goodness the weather is still nice enough to be comfortable with the windows open; it'll be much more difficult when it becomes summer. Also, most of the roads here are dust/sand. This makes cleanliness in the house a constant battle. I've never seen so much dust, dirt, and grime in all of my life. I have tile floors and they are swept every day and mopped three times a week! A benefit to living in a country where labor is so inexpensive is that I have the luxury of having a housekeeper who works for me every day so that I don't have to do spend time doing these daily household tasks. This is such a treat, too; I think I'm becoming quite spoiled. It will be difficult to go back to the states and have to do my own dishes, laundry, etc! =)

Life here is constantly changing and often challenging as I continue to grow accustomed to the cultural differences. Some moments I love it and others leave me wishing to be out of here and in the comfort of the states. This place stretches me, forcing me to become more resourceful, making me question my viewpoints on a range of issues, and compelling me to rely on God more than I ever have in my life. I truly am glad that I am here and know that the lessons I am learning and experiences in which I partaking will benefit me for the rest of my life. Thank you all so much for your continued thoughts, prayers, and comments. I love to hear from everyone back home as it keeps me feeling a bit more attached to all of you who are so far away.

Click the link to check out my photo album; some of them have captions at the bottom. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462010&id=5132789&l=529aedeff9