Amani = peace and peace is DANK.
Rats running out of "toilets" when you've got your pants down and you're moving to squat over them = NOT dank
Rats running in the wall that is next to your bed = NOT dank
same food over and over for 7 days = NOT dank
rain every morning = SO DANK
mold = actually dank
marijuana plants growing everywhere all over a college campus, a catholic hostel's grounds, and around town = really dank (words for pot here: gang, jiwana, mwana) it also is refered to as medicine
"one last card" a fast paced, tanzanian uno-esque card game - SO DANK and also a big time waster
Efreum - a man that works for SIC as a health worker and counselor - SO DANK - bad ass man with a huge heart
Custard Creme cookies, "twix bars", cashews, peanut butter and "Salticrax" - snack foods of a lifetime - SOOOO GOOD - and sooo dank.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Jungle and Arusha Market = DANK
Arusha Market. Stinkiest place I've ever been in my life also the scariest. We had to walk through it to get the fabric for our skirts and it was amazing and horrible at the same time.
Jungle. So DANK. We went on an 8 hour hike today. Down and up the steepest hills I've ever seen. Possibly 80degree angles. Also the muddiest place I've ever been. Also the most beautiful. I stood behind the tallest waterfall I've ever seen. Beautiful plants, monkies and other cool things.
Catholic Hostel. Not dank. Very boring and quiet. But, we're moving to a place we have all to ourselves which will be exciting.
Cars. NOT DANK. They will RUN YOU OVER no questions asked.
BIKES also not dank. They will try to run you over.
Skirts. SO DANK - they're called congas and they cost about 5 dollars and they come in the most beautiful patterns I've ever seen.
ICTR - SO DANK. the trials for the Rwanda genocide are held here.
Jungle. So DANK. We went on an 8 hour hike today. Down and up the steepest hills I've ever seen. Possibly 80degree angles. Also the muddiest place I've ever been. Also the most beautiful. I stood behind the tallest waterfall I've ever seen. Beautiful plants, monkies and other cool things.
Catholic Hostel. Not dank. Very boring and quiet. But, we're moving to a place we have all to ourselves which will be exciting.
Cars. NOT DANK. They will RUN YOU OVER no questions asked.
BIKES also not dank. They will try to run you over.
Skirts. SO DANK - they're called congas and they cost about 5 dollars and they come in the most beautiful patterns I've ever seen.
ICTR - SO DANK. the trials for the Rwanda genocide are held here.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
First Day HERE - Not so Dank
For now I'm just posting what I wrote in my email. I don't have too much time because I'm headed to the UN trials for the Ruwanda Genocide here in Arusha. Love everyone!
Hello Everyone! I can't tell you how excited and happy I am right now. Everything has gone really well. I'm not going to pretend being on the airplane and being in airports was fun, but it was all worth it. The flights were long, and the airplanes were all standard except for the Boeing 777 dreamliner. What a plane. Also Emirates air, great food. For all of you who know that I don't like fish, I've got a surprise. I ate fish twice on the plane. Smoked salmon and a tuna wrap. I've also eaten lamb, goat, sketchy chicken, and sketchy shrimp. Fun times abroad. No stomach complaints so far, I think that my tummy can handle it. I've purchased two bottles of water. The one in Dubai was a 1.5Liter Evian and it cost me about $10. The 1.5liter water I bought here was $1. Hmmmm exchange rates and airport markup are interesting. The land here is so beautiful, but it's very dark at night. Outside is not someplace I'd like to be on my own. The crazy drivers that everyone talks about exist, and we attrack crouds like no other. Arusha is an interesting town. I'm guessing a lot like many cities in foreign countries. It's pretty muggy today. It's been raining a lot. But I won't complain because it's contributing to some beautiful green plants everywhere. The hostel we are staying in is a lot nicer than I initially anticipated. Flushing toilets, HOT showers (when you turn the water down pretty low so we've all got low flow shower head hair, but it's fine with me). Even though I wouldn't drink it, I would (please don't hate me for this) place the water as more to my liking than Leipsic water. It smells much better - but again, is not drinkable. We also get breakfast everymorning. Three pieces of toast, butter, salt, a cup of tea, and one flat scrambled egg (which they call an omlete) we're going out today to find some hotsauce to spice up our mornings. I'll be staying here until Friday morning (it's Tuesday morning now) So far: Phoenix to New York - 5 hours, New York - 5 hour lay over, New York to Dubai - 13 hours, Dubai - 2 hour lay over, Dubai to Dar - 5 hours, Dar customs and lay over - 4 hours, Dar to Kili - 1 hour, Kili to Arusha (drive in an almost broken down SIC truck) - 1 hour. Lots of travel, now I'm relaxed. Got stopped by the security in Dubai. I think they just wanted to try to mess with me. The spoke to me in French at first which I understood, then they seemed to switch to Spanish and then to what I believe was Arabic. I think I handled it well though, I still have all my things, they just ran it through the Xray machine like ten times after I would take items out. Sorry this email is so jumbled, my mind is just a mess and this is all I can think of for now. We're off to get lunch and meet some of the other volunteers arriving today. So far there are 7 girls from UofA, 6 from Emory. We'll be meeting 3 boys from UA and more girls from Claremont and Emory this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow. Love, kisses and missessar P.S. I will be getting my personal cell phone tomorrow (wednesday). I will give you the phone number. The plan is that I will text anyone who wants me to chat on the phone (notify me by email with your number). Then you need to call me back. Incoming calls are free for me, but expensive for you. You have two options: go to an Africa or Middle East specialty shop to find a calling card that works for Tanzania or add money to skype. International calls on skype at 2cents a minute. I would recommend googling calling cards for tanzania and finding a store that sells them if you want to go that route. I'm sure there are also universal international cards, but our coordinator didn't tell us about that. LOVE!
Hello Everyone! I can't tell you how excited and happy I am right now. Everything has gone really well. I'm not going to pretend being on the airplane and being in airports was fun, but it was all worth it. The flights were long, and the airplanes were all standard except for the Boeing 777 dreamliner. What a plane. Also Emirates air, great food. For all of you who know that I don't like fish, I've got a surprise. I ate fish twice on the plane. Smoked salmon and a tuna wrap. I've also eaten lamb, goat, sketchy chicken, and sketchy shrimp. Fun times abroad. No stomach complaints so far, I think that my tummy can handle it. I've purchased two bottles of water. The one in Dubai was a 1.5Liter Evian and it cost me about $10. The 1.5liter water I bought here was $1. Hmmmm exchange rates and airport markup are interesting. The land here is so beautiful, but it's very dark at night. Outside is not someplace I'd like to be on my own. The crazy drivers that everyone talks about exist, and we attrack crouds like no other. Arusha is an interesting town. I'm guessing a lot like many cities in foreign countries. It's pretty muggy today. It's been raining a lot. But I won't complain because it's contributing to some beautiful green plants everywhere. The hostel we are staying in is a lot nicer than I initially anticipated. Flushing toilets, HOT showers (when you turn the water down pretty low so we've all got low flow shower head hair, but it's fine with me). Even though I wouldn't drink it, I would (please don't hate me for this) place the water as more to my liking than Leipsic water. It smells much better - but again, is not drinkable. We also get breakfast everymorning. Three pieces of toast, butter, salt, a cup of tea, and one flat scrambled egg (which they call an omlete) we're going out today to find some hotsauce to spice up our mornings. I'll be staying here until Friday morning (it's Tuesday morning now) So far: Phoenix to New York - 5 hours, New York - 5 hour lay over, New York to Dubai - 13 hours, Dubai - 2 hour lay over, Dubai to Dar - 5 hours, Dar customs and lay over - 4 hours, Dar to Kili - 1 hour, Kili to Arusha (drive in an almost broken down SIC truck) - 1 hour. Lots of travel, now I'm relaxed. Got stopped by the security in Dubai. I think they just wanted to try to mess with me. The spoke to me in French at first which I understood, then they seemed to switch to Spanish and then to what I believe was Arabic. I think I handled it well though, I still have all my things, they just ran it through the Xray machine like ten times after I would take items out. Sorry this email is so jumbled, my mind is just a mess and this is all I can think of for now. We're off to get lunch and meet some of the other volunteers arriving today. So far there are 7 girls from UofA, 6 from Emory. We'll be meeting 3 boys from UA and more girls from Claremont and Emory this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow. Love, kisses and missessar P.S. I will be getting my personal cell phone tomorrow (wednesday). I will give you the phone number. The plan is that I will text anyone who wants me to chat on the phone (notify me by email with your number). Then you need to call me back. Incoming calls are free for me, but expensive for you. You have two options: go to an Africa or Middle East specialty shop to find a calling card that works for Tanzania or add money to skype. International calls on skype at 2cents a minute. I would recommend googling calling cards for tanzania and finding a store that sells them if you want to go that route. I'm sure there are also universal international cards, but our coordinator didn't tell us about that. LOVE!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
You might have asked yourself... why dank?
a friend of mine overheard two fraternity brothers talking about africa one day and the conversation might have gone as follows:
guy 1: dude... africa man...
guy 2: yeah man... africa is so dank
guy 1: SOOO dank man
i have decided the only way to find out what SOOO dank means is to go there myself and investigate. of course, i'm also going because inside i secretly hope to save the world.
sesame street
guy 1: dude... africa man...
guy 2: yeah man... africa is so dank
guy 1: SOOO dank man
i have decided the only way to find out what SOOO dank means is to go there myself and investigate. of course, i'm also going because inside i secretly hope to save the world.
sesame street
Saturday, May 10, 2008
End of the Year
Packing, Finals, Packing, Finals, Goodbyes, Africa.
This weekend is the Hope in the Face of AIDs banquet in Phoenix. I'm going to be working and 'networking' to raise money for SIC so there will be programs in the future and the work I'm doing this summer will be sustained.
Packing is proving to be more difficult than I thought. It's kind of scary. I have two decent sized bags, so hopefully things will go well with everything I'm putting in them. I bought some books today from Bookmans to take with me, hopefully I can trade them with other volunteers so we'll all have something to read for the whole two months. On second thought... maybe I'll just leave all of my belongings behind and just buy everything there. That'd make everything so much easier.
This weekend is the Hope in the Face of AIDs banquet in Phoenix. I'm going to be working and 'networking' to raise money for SIC so there will be programs in the future and the work I'm doing this summer will be sustained.
Packing is proving to be more difficult than I thought. It's kind of scary. I have two decent sized bags, so hopefully things will go well with everything I'm putting in them. I bought some books today from Bookmans to take with me, hopefully I can trade them with other volunteers so we'll all have something to read for the whole two months. On second thought... maybe I'll just leave all of my belongings behind and just buy everything there. That'd make everything so much easier.
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