"Safari" (Journey)

Last Saturday I went on a safari in Terengire National Park! I saw lots of elephants, zebras, wildebeest, impalas and warthogs, some lions, waterbucks, hornbills, ostriches, striped mongooses and monkeys, a couple of giraffes, a buffalo, and a cheetah. It was quite the African experience… it was like stepping into The Lion King!

 

I am adapting to Tanzanian life well, but Tanzanians will never adapt to me. Here I am known to the locals as “mzungu,” white person. Lots of people stare at our group of wazungu (+ Ayo!) walking around town, some people say hi as they pass, some target us as wealthy tourists/potential buyers, and some Tanzanians are so friendly that they approach us just to talk about where we’re from and what brings us to Arusha. The best part is the little kids who get so excited to see white people. They put on a huge smile and shout, “Wazungu! Wazungu!” Sometimes they even reach out to touch us as we walk by! ADORABLE! The other day a little girl said “Hello!” and grabbed my hand and started walking with me. My friend Sarah asked her, “Jina lako ni nani?” (What is your name) and she replied, in perfect English, “My name is Jackie.” haha! Kids in Tanzania start learning English in kindergarten, and by the time they enter high school their classes are all taught in English. That’s why my host sisters speak English so well!

 

 

The Tanzanian men are quite happy to see mzungu girls too, several have confessed their love for me and I even received a proposal from my taxi driver! I find the best response is, “I’m already married.”

A typical day here starts at my homestay, when I wake up to my host Mama saying, “Karibu Jenni, breakfast!” (Welcome to breakfast). So I eat my giant breakfast and get ready for the day, then start walking to meet the other students. Ayo lives a couple of houses down from me, but we live the farthest away. Then we meet Allie, Luke, and Sarah during the next 20 minutes of walking. Sometimes we take the dala dala from there to class, but we often walk another 30 minutes to class. Class varies every day, but usually starts with 2 hours of Swahili with my mwalimu wa Kiswahili (Swahili teacher) Godson. He’s very energetic, a great way to start the day! The rest of the day we have lectures on HIV, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, development, or we do a farming practical outside in the demo plots. So far, we’ve made a sack garden (literally a garden coming out of a sack), a compost pile, and a double dug bed. They involve a lot of manual labor, luckily the men of the group are eager to step in. Class ends around 5pm and we often walk from there to a nearby hotel to use the internet and grab a drink. From there I head home, have dinner, take my bucket bath when my maji moto (hot water) is ready, do some work (sometimes), and go to sleep! And that’s a day in the life of an African adventure!!

PS – Whoever said Africa is hot LIED! Arusha is quite cool, and I definitely did not pack enough sweatshirts and jackets. Oops!