Wow, it has been a long time since I updated my blog. In my defense, everything just seems boring since I survived the Revolution!! However, I had an awesome adventure in Kenya and Tanzania at the end of April/beginning of May that seems blog-worthy. Some people from my school and I had planned a trip to Arusha, Tanzania where we were to go on safari for a few days, and then volunteer at a school where the students are 3-7 years old. The school was looking for volunteers to help them continue to develop a curriculum and help them keep updated, I guess you could say. Think small village school, dirt floors, no materials, etc. My friend Mary (who is a primary teacher) and I had worked for months putting together games for the children to help them with reading, and she has spent a lot of time creating a year-long syllabus for the school. We also had an adventure going to this huge outdoor market in Cairo called Attaba. It's a place where mostly poor people (for lack of a better expression) shop and everything is cheap, but also cheap quality. So we veiled up and went there one afternoon to purchase 55 backpacks so all the students from the school could have a bag to bring to school. Trying to explain to the shopkeepers that we needed 55 backpacks in Arabic and seeing their expressions was a great time. It's also fun to veil occasionally and go out and see how differently people on the street treat you. But that could be a whole different blog entry...
We had everything ready to go and flew to Nairobi, Kenya. We left Thursday night after school and arrived in Nairobi and 6:30 AM. I exchanged 10 US dollars into Kenyan shillings. It lasted Mary and I 2 coffees, 2 waters, a sandwich, and a bag of chips... at airport prices! We then boarded the bus for Arusha, Tanzania. Mary and I booked our own safari and were therefore on our own bus. They threw our backpacks on top of the bus and were tying things down when we realized that there weren't enough seats on the bus. Mary and I marched back outside and told them that there weren't enough seats. What should we do? They needed another bus. A nice Tanzanian man walked on the bus with us... and told me I needed to sit on a jump seat. (You know, one of the seats that folds out in the middle in the aisle). I was sleep deprived, and now pissed off. "How long do you expect me to sit in that seat?!" I asked, as nicely as I could. Very calmly, the man told me I would only have to sit there for 6 hours. "Are you fucking kidding me!" I'm pretty sure was my reaction. Luckily, some nice Tanzanian man on the bus traded his seat with me (probably because they thought I was some crazy white girl) so I wouldn't have to sit in that seat. We then took the 6 hour journey through Kenya into Tanzania that was very bumpy, crowded, hot, and smelly. I really felt like I was in Africa.
The next day, Mary and I left for our 3-day, 2-night safari. I had no idea how amazing it would be! Our guide's name was Arap and we went to the Terengeri and Lake Manyara. We drove around in a Jeep and saw a ton of elephants, giraffes, zebras, babboons, monkeys, gazelle, a ton of cool birds... but no cats. The grass was super high because it is the rainy season, so it was difficult to see any lions or anything like that. But it was incredible to see the animals up close and in their natural habitat. Mary and I also made voices for each of the animals and would provide commentary as we stopped to observe them... our guide probably thought we were crazy! My favorite voice is the babboon voice because I made it with a mid-western accent. It's pretty great.
We stayed overnight in luxurious posh lodges... which we were not expecting! They were like really huge tents complete with bathrooms. And beautiful views and porches. Unbelievable. Everything was green and gorgeous and you could see the stars at night and the blue of the sky (not like in Cairo where you can see pollution 24/7 and dust). It was surreal sleeping in the woods and waking up to the sound of birds instead of to the sounds of car horns and the call to prayer. It was awesome.
We stopped along the way to little shops and bought jewelry and paintings. The Maasai are an ethnic group of Kenya and Tanzania that are kind of like the native people I guess you could say. You see them everywhere walking and they are so tall and skinny and beautiful. The men carry spears to hunt/kill lions (or so they say... I think they're kind of lazy! You see the women doing all the work and carrying everything and the men just walk behind them. Come on, guys!) and they were bright beautiful colors. We stopped at a shop where Maasai women were selling jewelry and they were so happy when we bought things from them that they hugged and kissed us on the cheek. We also learned that numbers in Swahili and Arabic are the same! So that was nice.
We headed back to Arusha where we were staying at a hostel. To make a long story short(er) the rest of the trip was semi-disappointing. The girl currently volunteering at the school doesn't even have a college degree, and she wasn't very open to the materials and ideas that we brought. We seemed to be a burden to her instead of her and we weren't really doing anything at the school except for watching the kids color pictures and playing with them on the playground. They were adorable though!
Also, the hostel we stayed in was nasty. The worst place (well, 2nd worst) I've ever stayed in. They had a serious mice infestation problem. I didn't notice at first, but one day I opened a drawer and a mouse was looking at me. Then I saw mice running around in the hallway, then one ran between my feet (in the middle of the day). I found mouse poop in my shoes, it chewed on some of my belongings, etc. GROSS.
On to cultural things of Tanzania... we would be walking on the street, and Tanzanian men would come up to us offering a safari, etc. and we would tell them we already went on safari. They would then ask us to come to their shop which we would usually do. Or they would walk us to restaurants if we were looking for somewhere good to eat, then wait for us to be done so they could show us their shop. It was a weird cultural thing because they would just walk us around the town and talk to us. "Pole pole" (pronouced poley poley) is heard a lot there... meaning slowly slowly. No one is in a rush to do anything. One day a man came up to us asking if we were looking for a safari, and we told him we were looking for a place where we could have some beer. He then walked us to his bar which ended up being one of the coolest places we went to. It was outside, and you could see a stream and beautiful greenery. When we wanted to buy shoes, he called his brother who owns a shop, and his brother brought us all these shoes to look at. He also asked me to marry him... after knowing me for a few hours. I asked him if he even loved me, and he said yes. I asked him why and told him to give me 5 reasons. He said, because you're white. hahaha. He offered my parents a free safari if I would marry him. Oh yeah, he was also married and had kids. But he said his wife wouldn't care because she likes white people. He was hilarious. Then we hung out the rest of the night with him and his brother and taught them card games.
Anyway, after a failed marriage proposal, mice, and not accomplishing anything at the school, we decided to go back to Nairobi a day early. So we took the 6-hour bus trip back, and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel!! Seriously, go to Nairobi just to stay there. It was SO nice. SO NICE. We ordered room service, I had the best shower ever, and we watched the royal wedding on comfortable beds. The next day, we got massages and hung out by the pool. It was a great ending to have a relaxing day.
So, now that I've been living here for almost a year, I feel like I have been to Africa... even though I live in Africa. But Egypt feels like the Middle East... and I think it's technically referred to as the Middle East. Even though some aspects of the trip were a let-down, it was still a great experience and they are both beautiful countries. The people are also very nice and welcoming. It is a trip I would definitely do again... just in a different way.
