Day 52- eating pizza rocks, rain is no longer a friend, and packing wet clothes is still not cool

Wednesday, June.22nd, 2011
Song of the day: Just the way you are- Bruno Mars
Youtube it!

So just quickly checking in before I head to bed. I just finished packing and we leave for our bus around 5:30 in the morning. Its just after midnight and I just finished packing.
Today we had pizza for dinner which was delicious! I finally got around to cleaning my clothes today and then half way through their drying outside stage it decides to rain.... I do not know what you think about rain... but it sure was not cool to see my clothes wet again. I had to pack some of my clothes damp... which is not my favorite thing, but it is higher on the list of acceptable options. Certainly higher than "go without any clothes".
I will have to post this blog when I get back  because I am truly exhausted and need to get some sleep before the adventurous nine hour bus ride to Arusha. Happy day!
Goodnight.
Moriah

Day 45- Day 49: Jellyfish sting in the waves, scored trip to hospital because of malaria scare, and laundry that never gets done.

Song of the Day[s]: Owl City-Hello Seattle
Youtube it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flPwGj7O6FU

Wednesday, June. 15th, 2011-Sunday, June.19th, 2011
What is better than jumping waves in the Indian Ocean with Mike? A jellyfish joining in the fun, that is what! After feeling the sting and rushing out of the water, Mike kindly offered to save my life. What a noble gentleman, I'd say. Those four small words seemed to linger in the air. Those four small words held so much meaning in them... I was not sure what to say. We locked eyes as he said those words one last time, "I'll pee on you", and I knew I could not decline. What a glorious expression of selflessness, hope and long suffering.
After the tossing around of mixed emotions I accepted Mike's offer to save my life. I think he was a little shocked when I accepted the offer, because he did not rise to the challenge. His heroic gesture was righteously exposed for what it truly was and left him embarrassed and my arm still in pain. GREAT!
I managed to make it to the bar where I received help from the bartender. After "applying the liquid" to the sting I noticed there was green pulp scattered on my arm and a sweet aroma that brought back the long lost memories of high school Friday night parties. Good times! What was this liquid I used? Why it was juice from a lime of course! Just as acidic as urine and not so repulsive! I will be logging that away into my memory bank for the next time a jellyfish joins in my fun and some guy wants to play hero!
Now, as for malaria... well I have been dealing with a small amount of sickness these past few days, which had me in bed for most of the day and achy all over. Late one night, while a group of us sat downstairs around our dinner table I received a phone call from Jennifer. It was long past 11:00pm, so it seemed a bit odd. She let me know her husband, Joel, was at the hospital with malaria and they wanted me to go to the hospital right now because we had the same symptoms. Well, talk about catching me off guard. Nothing like a good life-threatening disease scare in the middle of the night while in Tanzania... I did not freak out or start to panic... just went upstairs and got my things and a little money. I think the interns around me were more frightened then I.
Joel and Jennifer returned to the guesthouse with our driver and Nicole and I hopped in, excited for the new adventures to come! Not exactly. Nicole was convinced I had malaria. I on the other hand was not too sure what to think of it all. Before we left on the adventures to TMJ hospital I sent a quick email to a few loved ones about the drama... Figured if I died... at least I warned them! *grin*
The hospital was like nothing I had seen in Canada before; It was empty. I requested a malaria test and she asked me for 3500 BUCKS!! Good thing I got travel insurance... because that was a hefty price to pay for them to prick my finger... Doctors out here are so pricey... There goes my debt-free life! Woah is me and all things sad! Alright, alright, alright... so it was 3500, but that is in Tanzanian Schillings.... which is just over 2 dollars... Phew, I'll survive this experience with .50 to spare! And I won't even charge BCAA...
While I sat and waited as the women held my fate in their hands... I thought it appropriate to send the other interns some "heads up" text messages and I knew they were sitting at home anticipating the horrid outcome. After reviewing my options of possible consoling messages I went with this one:
"It's official, I am pregnant!"
Somehow, the twisted, confusing, unrelated, and totally not appropriate message seemed... fitting. I chuckled to myself and thought it was best to tell Nicole, as she seemed a bit on edge. She did not laugh as much as I did, but was happy and shocked when the doctor told me I did not have malaria. Phew! I'll live! And it only took 10 minutes to clear the worries. Good thing, cause I think Nicole could not handle the worry. Too much stress for one night!
I considered sending a real text this time and letting them all know I was okay, but it did not seem as fun. The responses to the first text were amusing to say the least, so I decided I would play a bit more with this before admitting the bland results.
On to other things... as you all know, I do my own laundry by hand wash. Sadly that is not a button I press on my highly efficient washer machine... no, not quite. There are no buttons to push, unless I am wearing a blouse... and this "washer machine" gets tired a lot quicker than any electronic man made machine would. I never realized how strong my washing machine at home was... kudos to the machine! I truly love and miss thee! Anyhow, back to the reality of my life... Laundry piles up here and as exciting as it sounds to wash my clothes and feel all self sufficient, it gets old real fast! Almost two months of hand washing has taught me a few things, all of which make me more grateful for what I have at home. So, if you are avoiding washing your clothes... what is the one thing that finally makes you do your darn laundry? Is it the odor from your articles of clothing that smells like 10 day old sweat? Is it the splash stains from last weeks dinner? Is it the up close and personal car rides with the other interns where there is no missing ANY "scents"? Naw, I have sprays for all of that. The only thing that forces you out here to wash your clothes is the realization that you are on your last pair of underwear. YIKES! This is the only thing that forces you to clean your clothes and even in the process, we all[yes even the girls] pause and consider the once repulsed thought of inside out underwear.... Have no fear, we all end up caving and washing our clothes! So, I better do my laundry tomorrow... commando is not an option.

My time is short here. I have 13 days left before I leave and head back to Canada... Unfortunately, after the 22nd I will not have access to my computer until the 30th, as we are all taking a trip to Arusha for a week. Still a few days to write about, so keep coming back... Thanks for reading and I hope you all have enjoyed thus far! Again, thank you to all the generous and loving people who have helped me to make this possible. This volunteer adventure has been nothing short of a life changing experience! God bless!

-ILML13

Day 43- Work, confusion and a little thing called last minute changes...

Song of the day: Black Eyed Peas- Just Can't Get Enough
Youtube it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrTyD7rjBpw

Monday, June. 13th, 2011
I woke up this morning at 4am! I was a little sleepy considering I had fallen asleep just after midnight, but I was happy to be able to talk to my little brother over Skype! At first it was just two webcams and my mic and their typing. Randomly in the middle of the conversation I started to hear their conversations even though they said they had no mic! That was a great surprise for all of us! I was able to hear my little brothers adorable voice! I do not care how tired I was... That was worth the lack of sleep. I was also able to talk to Dad, Pauline and my oldest brother!
I chose to stay in bed for the Skype call which seemed harmless, until my older brother had two guys over and everyone thought it would be fun to have them get on cam and say hello to me. Oh good! The most awkward part of the day! What a good first impression! And.... moving on...
Went for a walk this morning with Karisa and then left for internship placement. We get there and no one is there... shocking right? No more than 30 minutes into my work and Mary and her son, Donald, walk in. I am a little baffled, but happy to see them.
Still waiting on Donald to give me some definite info on the project in Bagamoyo. I did manage to discuss a few things and things should get finalized this week! Which is good since it should be happening NEXT week. haha
Jesse, Olive and I went out for lunch at a local place. We had some rice and then the fried bananas in the sauce and meat. It was delicious! I really must learn how to make this stuff so I can cook it at home! YUM!
We had a meeting today with Mary and Brian after lunch and discussed what tasks have been accomplished and what areas or projects need more time spent. The meeting was much needed and so I was grateful that we all could make it out. There is a broad meeting happening tomorrow, which Mary invited us to attend. It caught me off guard and had to rearrange things for tomorrow so I could attend. The children from KidzCare are coming tomorrow afternoon and the meeting is right smack dab in the middle of the time! It would not be too big of a deal if it was not for the fact that both Jesse and I are cooking dinner tonight and it is suppose to be an early dinner. Last minute planning is so not my thing... especially when I have to rearrange already planned out things. Hakuna Matata!
I am not feeling too well today, again. This whole sick thing is cramping my lifestyle out here. Especially since I only have 20 more days here until I return home! I end up low energy for most of the day and wanted to sleep when I am not out of the house. Ugh! Not a good way to end my time here. I will be signing out from university radar soon and shall have a few weeks of freedom before I return back home. Hopefully that means I will feel well enough to actually explore Dar and see some things I have not had time to see yet. Also, we are leaving for Arusha on the 23rd of this month.
So dinner tonight was Chips my Eye and unfortunately I have no appetite to eat it. So I am going to sleep nice and early. Canucks game at 3am!
Picture of the Day: Our Professor showing us how studying is done! As you can see the book is upside down. This picture was meant as a joke, but after being in Tanzania for 43 days I can see a deeper meaning to this picture. It is to do with cultures. Both the Canadian culture and the Tanzanian culture on a broad spectrum want to do the same things, accomplish the same tasks, experience the same life experiences but none of it is accomplished in the same manner... I feel like this picture depicts the confusion I had for my first month here. I was here experiencing the culture and trying to understand it all, but I found myself frustrated with the way things were done here. My outlook on this culture was similar to reading a book upside down; difficult to understand, confusing and downright frustrating. It was not until I embraced the differences and changed my viewpoint on their culture that I was able to understand and even appreciate the culture, flipping the book right side up.

Goodnight!

Day 42- small is sometimes better... honestly!

 Song of the Day: Pink- I Have Seen the Rain
Youtube it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNzUCkf9VLo

Sunday, June. 12th, 2011
Today was not a very active day. A few of the interns went to Bagamoyo for the day, but I was not one of them. Nicole[the newest babysitter from the university... YAY] and I went to Kunduchi to get some work done... and maybe a little vitamin D too.
That is really all that happened. We talked and had some good heart to heart... We sweat like we were doing Bikram Yoga for 3 hours straight. haha It was a great day!
I wish I had more to talk about, but it was full of the same old stuff I do every week. Something cool though! 3 weeks TODAY I will be IN Canada... HOME! Bittersweet thought...
KD for dinner... HEAVENLY!
Picture of the Day:

The view from where I was working! Do not worry... I spent time on that beach after so it was only a tease for so long!
Kwaheri rafiki!

Day 41- Cheza!

Starting a new thing... I select "shuffle" on my ipod and the song on there is the song of the day... Should be fun! Song of the day: Wiz Khalifa- "Black and Yellow"
Youtube it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vcy1g6b0lg

Saturday, June. 11th, 2011
We went to KidzCare again! It feels like I have not seen the kids in so long! I was truly excited to see them. I felt like a child trying to go to sleep on Christmas eve...
Both Mary and Rob picked us up! The vehicle was packed! Five of us interns and Mary and Rob... We had to use the trunk seats. Mary and I volunteered to sit back there and I quite enjoyed it. I was able to discuss the fundraising I will be doing when I return to Canada for the orphanage as well as the curriculum I was wanting to create for their little primary school. She was excited for it all which only reenforced my excitement!
All the kids are out of school right now so we played from morning until late afternoon! We also got to meet Dennis, a great guy who is Tanzanian and comes to volunteer his time with the kids every weekend after he works/gets trained all week as a mechanic. I have heard so much about him and was very happy to meet him. The kids love him and he is very friendly!
Today was the most difficult day to leave. One of the twin boys wrap hugged me and while I had him in my lap he put his forehead on mine and looked into my eyes telling me not to go. I told him I had to and he had a bit of a fit, telling me to stay. It was hard to look into his beautiful innocent eyes and tell him I had to leave. In fact, all of the kids were very huggie today when we were saying goodbye. They were hanging on much longer than usual, not wanting to let go. To be honest, I did not want to let go either. I wanted to throw my own fit and demand to stay...
Reluctantly, I finished all my hugs and then we left. The kids chased after our car like they always do and I could hear their adorable voices yelling "BYYYEEE!!!!!!!" as we drove off.
I guess I expected it to get harder... but still...
On a happier note! We are planning to have the children over to our house for dinner and to watch The Lion King! Should be fantastic!!!

Picture of the day:

Two of the girls playing in the sand making a town with big houses. It reminded me of myself when I was their age. I used to always build cities in the sand and then use twigs and leaves to decorate the buildings!

Until we meet again, thank you for reading!
ILML13

Day 40- Karma is not funny sometimes...At least I am alive though.

Friday, June. 10th, 2011
I cursed a lion the other day. Full out laid down some major hate. He felt it too... I know it. Course this wasnt in person really... or should i say this wasnt in animal.. it was a game i played. What a bad choice for a game! Two minutes after showing up to Mwenge market... guess who shows up! Thats right. THAT lion... alright well maybe not THAT one... but just my luck a lion shows up. The first thing I think to myself is "Shoot I should not have cursed that game lion.." Followed by the logical screams and running for my life. Well this lion must have heard my thoughts because out of everyone it chose me.... singled me out. UGH. Why me? WHY! Was it my blonde hair? My white skin? My screams? What a horrific moment... realizing the lion is singling you out! Out of all the 40 some people and I am the one he chooses. So what better way to run away then to trip half way through it and face plant into the dirt. Oh GOOD! The lion wasted no time! The moment he was close enough he took a good bite out of my toe.... It was all so shocking I could not even scream. Someone must of scared the lion off because after the one bite he suddenly ran off... When the men found out the lion had taken my toe they ran after it and killed it. Beat it up with their bare hands! Just ripped that fat cat apart and then returned my toe to me. Loads of blood... confusion... but in the end I was at the hospital and the doctor managed to somehow reattach my toe... and it just is bandaged up. Well... at least my pedicure was not ruined! Not even chipped! I am grateful for that!
So, I tried to upload a picture of my toe, but as fate would have it... it stopped working for me! I have been trying to upload the picture for 20 minutes... oh well. You get what I am saying...
Just tried again... and low and behold here it is..

Day 39- Two small bread balls just do not do it for me for the whole day...

________UNDER CONSTRUCTION__________

Day 38- Games learned in Africa! Whether you want to or not!

Wednesday, June. 8th, 2011
Happy day! Some times you just have to shrug off things you will never understand. Africa is a great place to learn the talent...
1) If you correspond through email with a Executive Director of a NGO company and set up a meeting to discuss what the NGO does... bring a two paged, single spaced list of questions you want answered. If you did not have time to do so, then make sure to at least bring a pillow or a pot of coffee.
2) When you show up for a meeting that was previously arranged, do not be baffled when they have no idea why you are there.
3) After getting past that 'bump' in the road and you sit down to have your meeting with a "Charles"... do not be surprised if people who work in an office WITH Charles tell you they do not know a Charles and give you a confused look. Do not let them make you feel stupid for not bringing your laptop to look up the emails because you are second guessing yourself.
4) And finally, under NO circumstances should you be shocked/jaw dropped/stunned or in awe when a gentleman walks into the meeting and introduces himself as "Charles".
What you should do if pull out that piece of paper... start to ask your questions and see if you can stretch that meeting out to 30 minutes without falling asleep. Good times! Make a game out of it and you just might be able to stay awake... maybe.

In other news... Canucks played poorly on Tuesday at 3am[Tanzanian time of course]... Still going to win the cup though!
Bye 

Day 37- Tanzania was once called "Tanganyika", ATMs deserve a place in the museum, and roadside ice cream ROCKS!

Tuesday, June. 7th, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE!!
And so it begins... The week. Jesse and I showed up to our internship placement in the morning only to be locked out again. This time it went too long. We gave up after a good while and got a ride to Slipway where we did some work at a coffee shop and looked around some of the shops. We also went and got some MUCH NEEDED pedicures at a shop I have been in correspondence with for future entrepreneurial training options for locals here through a Canadian charity project. The pedicure was fantastic, I really wished it would not have ended. The ladies did a phenomenal job.... almost as good as my pedicures I normally get at home!
Jesse and I decided to go visit the National Museum of Tanzania!

 The museum was basically an office building, a church like building, and a shed/shack type makeshift. It did not even look like a museum... our driver had a hard time finding the place! I think he stopped and asked about 6 people along the way every few minutes. It only cost us 2600 tsh to enter because we were foreign students! Score! 

 Sorry about the glare from the glass... I tried my best..

 Yep. That is right... An ATM is in their museum. This was Tanzania's FIRST ATM from 1994... Amusing what ends up in their museum here. I have selected just a few more photos to share, as I find some interesting and some just hilarious...

 INTERESTING!: A bicycle made out of wood! About 98% of this bike was wood. The seat is wood, the handlebars are wood, the poles are wood... even the wheels are wood! The only things NOT wood is the chain and the stuff that turns the chain. COOL!

HILARIOUS!: In case you cannot read what the card says I will type it out for you. "In many countries mollusks are processed and canned for human consumption. Shown here are processed and canned molluscs." That was no spelling error on my part... That is straight up original quoting going on there! This is in their museum... do not ask me why... I just do not get it. Amusing though...

After our wonderful adventures at the museum we returned back to the guesthouse, getting some ice cream along the way from a man on a bicycle. It was good ice cream and really helped to cool me down. Hot day...

Until we meet again... Kwaheri ya kuonana! [In English: Goodbye until we meet again]

Creatures worth noting!

A cute little bird that we think was injured. It never flew away from us and we were inches away! It was amazing! Looks like a pretty parrot, but clearly not! haha

creepy ants here! These guys are found eeeeeeeeverywhere. And I mean, everywhere. On our counters in our kitchen is the most annoying area... you have to be careful you do not put your food down without cover. I can almost guarantee we all have eaten a few of those guys in our food/drink. Yummy protein!

These guys are loud and everywhere. They run around like they own these streets... Crazy!

Day 36- Just another manic Monday... Wish it was Sunday! Cause That's my fun day!!

Straight up coolest thing ever. Mole Rat. Naked. I did want to vomit when I saw it though... Enjoy!
Monday, June. 6th, 2011

The beginning to a new week! I could hear the lyrics to the song "Manic Monday" by The Bangles begin to quietly play as we drove to work in the morning. I would be lying if I told you I was happy the weekend was over. Each new day, though always full of joy, has a lingering sorrow that is quietly felt in the heart. 
My time here is flying by and often it feels like I have done nothing yet! I find myself spending more time in my room, alone, then I have in previous days. I am grateful for the time, as it helps me to reflect on this past month and attempt to plan my next... 26 days!
And so, another day comes and goes and I continue to feel comfortable. I do not know if it is the sunshine, the people I live with, or the amazing food, but something here makes it feel like home. As I examine my fingers on the keyboard, I note the number of bites scattered along my fingers. Three. Three small bits that cause a certain amount of frustrated attention each day. I would see it as an improvement because of the small number; However, as I glance at my calves I am reminded of the seventy fresh bites. I should probably consider using bug spray... Maybe...
I power went out today at home. Now, it is never a happy moment when your fan suddenly stops and the heat settles back down. If you sweat even with the fan and air conditioning on, then you can imagine the fear when the electricity goes out. It is no joke out here. It is a face that is a little too repetitive for my liking. But enough of the negativity, life out here is really amazing.
From early morning jogs on the beach with the sun rising in the distance, to fried bananas with beef and gravy... this place is where your outlook on life will inevitably expand and if need be, as most of ours are, changed.
Volunteering at WFT today was good. Mary has returned, finally, and she shared her chicken and fried bananas with us; a much appreciated peace offering! I was able to review Donald's proposal he gave me and it looks great! It sounds exciting and I think I will be able to be a part of the big event before I return to Canada. We are going to have a meeting soon to discuss the details! I'll tell you all about it soon! I just want to see what he has planned before I make any big announcements!
I also received a phone call form my grandfather, with contact numbers for family out here in Dar that I can visit! I was so excited to hear from my grandfather and his wife! Minutes after I got off the phone with them I received phone calls from family members out here in Dar and have plans to meet up with Michael [a brother of my grandfather's wife] on Friday! He wants to show me around which will be refreshing to experience Dar from a Tananian's point of view! 
Dinner tonight was breakfast style! Jesse and I made french toast and fruit, which was fantastic! I shall drift off to sleep early... so I can wake up at 3:00am to watch the Canucks game!

Beautiful Things I have purchased here!

Day 34-35 Do I talk to myself and then deny it? Naww!

Saturday, June. 4th, 2011-Sunday, June. 5th, 2011
Hello hello!

This past weekend consisted of little excitement. I am sad to say... life is not always glamorous out here! I mean... I am not ALWAYS spending time with orphans and volunteering at a NGO that empowers marginalized women... and I am most definitely not always being exposed to new cultural differences. It is just starting to feel like my life, my home, my place... Or it did this weekend.
Why we did not do anything of excitement or importance you ask? Opposition in all things! How can there be excitement without boredom? How can I enjoy the culture if I do not dislike it first! haha Okay, that is a joke. Sort of. A bit, at least... For the most part.
If I were to pick the highlight of my weekend, I would definitely say it was Mike's new bathing suit purchase. I helped him pick it out and even fronted him the dough for it! Well worth it!


We did find a new restaurant to eat that. It is in the shape of an ark, no joke! And it has delicious pizza [...hmm this is new]! When we first entered the restaurant, I wondered if they would have enough tables for us. We were a group of fourteen at the time and though the restaurant was empty... the available tables were few. We did manage to get us all around the table though. Up until my pizza arrived I had been feeling quite nauseous and water was not making it any better. Pizza made me feel better, go figure!
After our dinner we walked next door to Shooters Bar or something along those lines and found ourselves a little karaoke machine! Remember the last karaoke we went to where I was mistaken when believing we would BE the party? Well... on this night we really were THE party. After our first song, people starting getting up and leaving. I was not sure if it was because of how good we[by "we" I mean Alex] were singing or if they were honestly just ready to leave. Either way, after eight minutes there we quickly became the majority. It was a pleasant change from being the minority for the last month! I never knew what it felt like to be a constant minority and with such a large gap that seeing another mazungu on the street actually made me want to dance over to them and greet them. That is right, I have fallen victim to this embarrassing display of excitement. Ashamed? Yes. Still excited? Unfortunately.
Moving on... I am happy to say there have been no more random old men displaying themselves in public! Or at least not anywhere I was. However, there is a guy who runs the street that has been talking to us and walking with us for the last two mornings. The other Tanzanians give him some weird looks, most with huge grins. He is polite and so we do not fear bumping into him. We saw our policeman today! He is no long positioned by the bridge, but just past it on the other side of the street. I was happy to see him and I like to think he was happy to see us too!
A contributor to the bland weekend was the departure of Jodi and Andrew early Sunday morning. I miss them already. I called her tonight and pretended I was returning her "missed call" just so I could hear her voice! haha Jest! I actually did think I had missed her call. The time stamp matched up and I had missed a total of four calls. The only thing not matching up was the date and the fact that the four missed calls were from the one number. Oh well! Got to talk and hear about her first day on her safari!
There is not much else to say. Interesting weekend? Meh... it was a weekend.

OOPS!! CANUCKS WON WITH AN OT GOAL BY BURROWS!!! WHO AM I KIDDING! THIS MADE MY WEEKEND!!!!
Gnight!

Day 33- Why did that man have to ruin my beautiful sunrise beach run... why? *burn my eyeballs*

This morning was a good morning. Cali boy, Daniel, joined us for a run on the beach! It started off quite nice, until we were stopped by a river like body of water. Knowing the likelihood of unspeakable amounts of waste sitting at the bottom, we declined Daniel's naive request to walk through it. Unfortunately, the alternate option he had in mind was walking along side this water until there was a narrow enough section where we could jump over. We agreed, thinking it would not hurt to check it out. Well a good 10 seconds into the adventure and we were regretting our agreement. We were knee deep in mud! KNEE DEEP! Okay, not quite. More like a good inch, but it sure was disgusting. Daniel did not seem too bothered by the mud, typical boy, and so with each new step we took a chunk of mud added to our runners, making the walk that much more difficult.
Four minutes in and Karisa and I had had enough. We petitioned our pleases by stopping. Bad choice. Wrong choice. The only thing worse than walking in this mud was NOT walking in this mud. We sunk and it was not very pretty. All sides of my runners were covered in mud... all the way up. In the end our petition paid off! We turned around and returned to the normal beach area and started our way back. The ocean water and a random stick helped to eliminate about 70% of the mud suctioned to my runners. The rest just tagged along for the remainder of the run!
The run back was beautiful, refreshing and it almost seemed pleasant... until the unthinkable happened. I do not even want to talk about it. So.. just know it ruined the run and probably the rest of my trip!
---------CAUTION! DISTURBING CONTENT TO FOLLOW----------
Alright, fine... you want to know? ICK. Alright, so there was a particular OLD gentleman that felt the need to take off his pants right in front of us on the beach... and I guess commando is the usual because I was ready to vomit. Got it? Yeah, not the way I wanted to end my run. Thankfully we still had a good 10 min stretch to go and we booked it past him. THE END!
=============================
Not really. After our run, Karisa and I walked down to the local market and picked up some fresh fruits and cucumber to make a lunch and bring to the beach with us. We had pancakes for breakfast! They are like crepes... a bit thicker. SO GOOD.
The beach was good. We swam laps at the pool and then spent most of our day in the shade. Our food was so delicious we had to talk about it for five minute intervals all day! haha That could be a stretched truth...
We made time to read and then, sleep. Heat sleep is never satisfying. Just inevitable.
Now for dinner from Andrew and Jodi... YUM!
Kwaheri!

Day 32- "True love is almost as rare as tanzanite"

Thursday, June. 2nd, 2011

I woke up late today. It never feels good getting up late. 8:22am I jumped out of bed and went for breakfast. Watermelon and a piece of toast never tasted so good! Oatmeal sealed the deal- I was set for the morning.
A group of us went to slipway to check out the shops again and show Andrew them.
Did not stay long, but we did have enough time to grab some good ice cream. Before we left we stopped in a gem store to look at tanzanite and as we were leaving the gentleman handed us their promotional leaflet. Across the top read " True love is almost as rare as tanzanite"! What a beauty! Good sales pitch, no?
We made our way to Sea cliff; Sienna and I helped Jodi pick out her tanzanite stone and custom made ring that Andrew was getting her. It was exciting! Again... another thing I wished I was experiencing! haha jokes! sort of!... ok it was not a joke. What girl does not want a ring from a boy they love?
Before returning back to the guesthouse we had lunch at one of the hotel restaurants. It was a delicious avocado and prawn salad which was fantastic!

The view was beautiful from our balcony seating, with white cap waves lining the ocean view!

Came home and I caught up on blogs and changed my rooms from a shared room with Deanna to my very own.

Had dinner with two American volunteer guys at Boona Banna who just showed up in the last few days from Georgia. Good fun! Yona, who is one of our drivers, showed Mike and Karisa how to make traditional Tanzania pilou rice and some yummy shrimp and then stayed and ate with us. It is always enjoyable having guests for dinner.
That pretty much sums up my day!
My peach of the day: catching up on my blogs!
My pit of the day: waking up late... ick!

See you all later!

Day 31- white caps make for a beautiful day!

Wednesday, June.1st, 2011

Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trip to the KidzCare orphanage for a few reasons. Although I was disappointed that I would not be able to spend time with them... it was still a really good day. Probably one of my best moments out here... selfishly, that is.
Early in the morning I got my business done... serious business! haha And then for the first time in quite awhile, a large group of us went to the beach. We went to a nice resort and it was refreshing. We all have been running around with our internships and sometimes the only time we get to see each other is at dinner before people start to collapse into bed. There were a few that still have to go to their internship, which was unfortunate, but it still was a great day full of sunshine, a nice breeze, a beautiful beach... and for Mike and I, white capped waves!
Another particularly exciting part of today was Andrew [Jodi's boyfriend/our new babysitter] arriving in the morning and joining us at the beach. It was cute to see how excited Jodi was to see her man who she has not seen for a month. For a moment it made me wish I had someone to come visit me! Who am I kidding, I've been wishing that this whole time! Feel free to book a flight and come see me... anytime... honest! <3
So, Andrew is great. He fits right in with our group and I hardly notice the awkward moments when he has to change all our diapers....


Sorry, bit of a joke... hahaha I made a funny! So yeah, we are getting babysat, but it really is not that bad. It is just an addition to our group.
We ate lunch at the restaurant in the resort and there were a few complications with the waiter forgetting things ordered, mixing up orders, etc. With my order he told me I had to choose something to go with my Indian dish, which I chose rice... thinking that it would come with it. Apparently not. An extra 3500 tsh was on my bill and as I was discussing the bill with him I found myself annoyed and frustrated, as I was not the only one who had mix ups. He ended up telling me he did not want me unhappy and so he would take it off. The manager had already been over to our table earlier for one of the other interns, requesting they fill out an evaluation card in regards to our waiters service so I could tell he was on thin ice.
Amongst my frustration, I stopped and realized the guy was trying hard and was just not succeeding. In my self-righteous smug moment I was arguing over a miscommunication due to a language barrier. I was retracting my desire to give him a tip because, through some unfortunate series of events, I had to pay an extra 3500 tsh. Seemed petty and so I paid my bill without mentioning a word to the manager who took my money. And then, I returned to our table and gave our waiter a tip and thanked him for his service. Who am I to not thank someone for their hard work just because it did not work out the way it is expected to? Life is not always about rewarding the people who do things perfectly. People may fail by our standards, but that does not mean they failed. Remember that Albert Einstein quote? It does not fit perfectly, but it makes you think.

After lunch we returned to the beach area, noting the tide had come in. The water was warm like a swimming pool and even in some spots almost as warm as a bath at home! Mike and I took to the water and started to jump waves! Where we were walking was a pretty cool spot, with waves coming at you from left and right and exploding in the middle. It was one of the best times out here as of yet, diving into the waves and letting them pull us with them. It was exciting to feel the power from the waves tossing you around like a little rag doll as you try to not gulp salt water. At one point, the waves pulled me out past where I could stand and the waves were pretty big, making it difficult to make it back to the shallow area. Mike had to pull a David Hasslehoff and rescue me! We continued jumping waves and caught a really great wave that hit us pretty hard, knocking Mike's shades into the ocean never to be seen again. haha He was pretty bummed, so we spend a good 10 minutes looking for them before we continued our wave crashing adventures!
Ever had a sand fight? Makes for a big mess! As if we did not already have enough sand on us!
The beach day ended shortly after. We returned home and ate hamburgers and salad made by Joel and Jennifer. Delicious!
After dinner we meet up with swissie at the Irish pub for karaoke night, bringing along our new intern friend who is from Cali. We call him jewie. He is out here doing an internship with a company and is staying where we are too. Swissie is on a year contract out here in construction, and we met him because he was staying here for awhile too. He has his own flat now one minute away. We meet a lot of cool people!
Karaoke was great, and when we first arrived it looked like we were going to be the party, but by 10:30 the wazungus piled in and we had a great night!

Day 25-Day 30th

May 26-May 31

I am going to have to sum up these days all together. Unfortunately, this lifestyle does not make for enough time to write each day... or if it does, I have yet to master the skill.

So... Thursday we had all of the Boona Banna kids over for mac n cheese and to watch "The Lion King". It was a lot of fun and they loved the movie. We taught them peaches and pits and it was so cute for them all to tell us their peach was to have dinner with us all. Cool kids! Near the end of the movie our Massai guard came in and watched a bit of the movie!! Anyone know about the Massai tribe? They are a nomadic tribe... so it was pretty funny to see one watching our movie that we projected on the wall. I also had a great talk with Cherie that I think I needed.
Friday was... great! Everyone went to the beach and I stayed home all alone and spent some time on the roof, read and tried to catch up on some course work. It was nice to be alone. That is one thing I miss out here! Having time to yourself is a rarity and usually does not last very long. In the evening we attended a play put on by HOPAC kids and faculty as a fundraiser for a playground(its a school). It was the sound of music and was so well done! For a moment, I forgot I was in Africa... lol It also reminded me how much I appreciate theatre and miss going to plays. That is on my list of things to do when I get home!
Saturday we went to slipway and spent a little time with Cherie before she left for Canada. Not all of us went, which is good cause I did not want to share my ice cream with everyone. :) Just kidding. The second half of the interns when to the play today while we were out and then in the evening everyone went out to watch the football game. I again stayed home and tried to work on course work.
Sunday was a good relaxing day. Again, course stuff... tried to take it easy and catch up on stuff I could not do during the week.
Monday was a good day. We showed up to volunteer at WFT and found ourselves locked out. We rang the bell, knocked on the door loudly with no response. After 10 minutes we decided we could call our driver back and go to meet up with the girls to do some work at slipway. Well, our driver was almost there when suddenly the guy opened the gate for us and so we had to go to work. Net sticks sucked. No one was there all morning. Brian did show up around lunch time and took us to the Bonjour gas station where there is this little red box burger joint and the burgers and fries were soo good. *note* They have these "line ups", if you can call them that, that to the blind eye would look like a disaster with no order whatsoever... and yet somehow there is order and it is fair. No idea how they do it! But koodos to them!
Tuesday we went to work again. This time we were only locked out for 5 minutes. Net sucked. Uber bad! We could not do ANYTHING. It was a not so successful day... in comparison to our "productive" days...:) but thats okay. It was all good. Orphanage day tomorrow! :) good thing too! I miss them

There we go. Summed up!