Sokoni (at the market)

Here's a picture from our trip to the market today, outside the entrance before it got too crazy and I had to start worrying about getting my camera stolen. We pulled up in bus, and I was really concerned about 20 white people getting off together. Sure enough, we were surrounded by children trying to sell us plastic bags for the market, but once we split up it was alright.

People are continually surprised and pleased by our ability to speak Swahili, and surprisingly respectful when we explained that we didn't need something. We bought everything we needed for a reasonable price. The market was quite a sight with dozens of women sitting with huge bags of produce, all trying to sell the same thing. Next time I go, I'll try to snap some more pictures of the madness, as it is quite a sight.

Bye!

Laura

Kasheshe

Sitting on the roof reading, Mount Meru in front of us, cool bricks behind, a long Swahili book in front and warm smiles of surprised and pleasantly surprised passer-byers below when we greet them in Swahili.

I am staying with a new host family. Three of us were alone, and so for three weeks they put us all together. We are staying with two retired teachers and their 8 children, some of which are their actual grandchildren and others of whom are orphans. Living with teachers is amazing because they know just how to make sure you understand and to help us learn tons of Swahili! Plus, having that many kids around is a blast. We are planning a talent show for the weekend.

We have a kitten named Kashshe meaning trouble in Swahili. She is adorable, even though the Tanzanians don't think so and kick her away whenever she comes too near. She always climbs on my lap and sits and purrs, but she is also trouble. (: I walked into the room and found her swinging back and forth on my mosquito net, and she is very tricky at stealing food during meal times.

Baadaye! (Later!)

-Laura

Maporomoko Ya Maji

My brother Beda and I walked for 4.5 hours today to go see a waterfall. We ambered down small brownish red dirt roads, through valleys and mountain paths with the constant canopy of arching banana trees framing the road. Living in Seattle, I thought I knew what hills are, but here is truly something amazing. There is no flat ground in sight, and around every peak is either a breathtaking view of the hills and mountains ahead or a view for miles around of the valleys below.

We walked along, and the children shouted "Mzungu! Mzungu!" (White person!) Some of them came up in groups and touched me, then ran back to their friends to exclaim their victory. The groups of women laughed when I greeted them in Swahili and the old men and women held my hand and smiled, saying "my child, how are you my child?"

Everything is beautiful here- the people, the culture, the environment. People are so respectful and caring. I have never seen so many sincere smiles in one place, but ofcourse living here, everyone thinks it is so normal.

One of the teachers told a story about how a friend from another region of Tanzania had come to visit and had gasped in wonder "The mountain! Look at Mount. Kilimanjaro!" Concerned, my teacher turned around and asked "What's wrong with it?!!" worried that it was falling down or had somehow drastically changed. Of course, her friend was just amazed at its beauty, but my teacher is so used to it, she says she doesn't even notice it. My host mom added she would certainly never want to climb it. She says she is confused by why anyone would want to climb it. All that exercise, pain, freezing cold, and when you get to the top, you can't even see the beautiful mountain anymore because you are on it!

:)

-Laura

Harusi (Wedding)

Our neighbors were invited to a wedding this Saturday, and so they invited me to come along. A few shocking things about a Tanzania wedding to the ignorant American:

1.The length- This wedding was from 1:00 PM until far past midnight, and this was the second whole day of festivities.

2. The parade. After officially being wed in the church, the bride, groom, and all the people in the wedding party drive all around in decorated vehicles to announce the engagement.

2. The feast- Of course, for any proper wedding festivities, multiple whole goat carcasses must be paraded around by the chefs while everyone admires. Then, they are brought up right beside the bride at the front of the room and the chef proceeds to cut it up right in front so that everyone can see.

3. The size- According to my host father, there is no such thing as a small Tanzanian wedding. You must have 200 people at the very least, and I think there were at least 300 or 400 at this wedding, and it was beautiful. All the chairs were covered and ribboned, and fabric in the official colors of the wedding, orange and white were hung extravagantly all over the giant room.

Host Family

Mom, little brother, Mom, and house helper, who lives there and is paid to clean and do the dishes.

Tail of Goat

Hey! Sorry I haven't ben in contact. There have been a lot of problems with electricity all over Tanzania. Nearly the whole electrical system is hydroelectric, and the rainfalls have been very little this year, leaving a lot of electricity problems. I also don't have wireless at my host family.

Host family- They are awesome, but the first day was quite the experience. Everyone else has someone else to stay with, and I was already a bit overwhelmed when my host dad came to get me.

The first day at dinner my father says to me that three years ago his father had died, and so by tradition of his tribe they slaughtered a goat. "We in the Mchaga tribe love meat" he says. He was sorry that I missed the festivities of the slaughter, but for a mostly vegetarian, I wasn't too sad :) Then, he explained that they had saved the tail of the goat, and with great pride they carried out on the platter what looked like the whole rear end of a goat with the tail sticking up out of the top! "You as our guest will have the first piece," my host father said. "It is a great honor." Worst of all, I really hate goat. I have never ben able to stomach the taste. So, I hesitatingly took a small piece. It wasn't terrible, but I explained that I was very very very VERY full when they asked if I would like more.

I have a 20 year old sister, and two brothers, one with 9 years and the other with 18. The 9 year old is still pretty scared of me and really quiet, but everyone is really nice.

School has started, and so far a lot of it is review, but I am definitely picking up lots of new vocabulary, and in the afternoon we go on excursions and talk to native speakers, so it is very good practice.

Best of all, yesterday, I was in the library when someone called my name. I turned around, and there was a couple standing there who looked very familiar. I couldn't quite figure out why for a split second, and then I realized it was my teacher and her husband from Harvard! They were in Arusha and they had come just to visit me! I was so happy and excited! It was wonderful.

The Internet is being slow, so I've uploaded a few pictures to Facebook instead of to Blogger. There is one of me showing a newspaper to a Tanzanian who wanted to read his horoscope, and then there is one of my friend Heather and I. During class, we were talking about question words, so I asked her to marry me, so the picture is of our engagement (Note the matching dresses).

Bye for now from Tanzania!

-Laura

Crazy Markets, Crazy Dreams

It is 4:30 in the morning, and I can't sleep, so what a better time to write a blog?

Yesterday was one of the longest days I can remember. We changed money, then went to a crafts market and a supermarket. I had almost forgotten what it is like to be a Mzungu (white person) in an East African market. "Come! Welcome! You student? I give you student price! You like? Take? Don't you want? I give to you reduce price. You say you be back? Just a kitu kidogo, (small thing). I have to feed my family. I have children. Please. Ok, bye then, you remember me you return?" They are excellent salesmen, and the market was actually much more organized than most I have seen, but walking off our bus in a huge tour-group like setting I was expecting the worst. It brings back memories of so many other markets and being mobbed with salesmen and marriage proposals and the general chaos white skin brings.

Later, we went for a run around the compound, and everywhere we went people shouted "Poleni! Poleni!" (I am sorry for you all. My sympathies!) We thought this was pretty funny.

So back to the 5:00 in the morning thing- The last few night I have been having super vivid strange dreams, and I have been waking up at four, even three o'clock in the morning wide awake and unable to sleep. Last night I dreamed that there was a 700 pound mentally retarded man living next to me who, quite innocently, loved hugs, but since he was so big he would squeeze people really hard, lifting them off the ground in a crushing embrace that made it so that they couldn't breathe, and also sometimes accidentally smothering them in his fat. I spend the night avoiding him, somehow completely terrified. I was faster than him, but everyone went he happened to show up. I don't have a driver's license, but I found myself driving down a freeway to escape him on a moped/van combination with gas pedals, a full steering wheel, but an open -topped frame, terrified that the police would pull me over for my bad driving or that I would crash. I never remember my dreams, but I remember exactly what every curve and bridge of that road looked like. People, books, and places I haven't thought of in years became vivid way only comparable to nightmares from the imaginations of my elementary school self. However, arguably the strangest part was waking up and not completely leaving the dreams behind. Lying awake in the darkness, the strange thoughts continued, but tied to my own world now. Everything from having the distinct sensation that someone or something was sitting quietly in the corner of the room, to seeing it was pitch black out and wondering if the sun had burned out, to seriously wondering if I was dead, to being terrified to turn on the light should there be bloody eyeballs on the walls (don't ask me why eyeballs in particular). I could talk myself out of it, tell myself it was ridiculous, but it wasn't until I forced myself to try to turn on the light, found there was no electricity, freaked out some more, and then finally turned on my flashlight and hung it from the ceiling that I was able to free myself from these near hallucinations.

According to the all-powerful Internet, really vivid dreams and nightmares, as well as inability to sleep are side-effects, although not common ones of Malerone, my anti-malaria medication. However, I have taken Malerone the two other times I was in Africa, each time with no problems. Strange.

Here is another picture of the monkeys here. You can't see in the picture, but one one of their most striking features are their bright red butts and bright blue balls. I'll try to get a picture later. Also, here is a picture one of the giant storks. Turns out these storks can be up to 5 feet tall with a 10.5 foot wingspan. Now that is a huge bird!

-Laura

Nimefika (I have arrived)

There are baboons and three and a half foot storks outside my window. Tropical flowers surround us and a light mist falls softly around a 75 degree day. From the trees hang swings, and I fly softly through the air, feeling the cool dampness on my cheeks. Slowly, the fog lifts, and we sit on the grass on our kangas (traditional wraps women in East Africa wear).

I have spoken in Swahili constantly since I got here, and even now as I write this, I am having trouble not translating it into Swahili. We read more in depth about the program today, and it far exceeds any expectations I had. I realize as the first day comes to an end that we have a real possibility of becoming close to fluent by the end of this trip. From visiting local cities, to Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam to local schools and courts, to market visits and interviews, to a GIANT library with more books in Swahili than I have ever seen, I am almost overwhelmed and incredibly impressed by all we will be doing in the next few weeks. Already, I have written over 50 pages of vocabulary and sarufi (grammar). Today five of us sat on a merry-go-round and took turns reading and translating paragraphs of children's books for hours. I also got The Little Prince in Swahili, and in a few weeks I will give a book report on it.

I found out I will be living alone with my host family, which I have mixed feelings about. I will probably learn a lot of Swahili, but nina wasiwasi kidogo pia (I'm a little worried also). It is always harder to communicate by yourself without anyone's help.

I am so happy to be here. This is an amazing opportunity, and I am astounded by all that I am already learning.

Usiku mwema kutoka Tanzania (Good night from Tanzania)

-Laura

Also, picture uploading is really slow, so I started a Facebook album hapa (here)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2151381306786.130186.1313988216

Misha has a Facebook!

In this day and age, the best way to connect is clearly Facebook, and why should this be any different for dogs?

So, today Misha told me she wanted a Facebook too! She fluffed up her fur and we took her first profile picture. She updated all her interests to include all her favorite dog-related movies, songs, and games. (Ofcourse Dog-opoly and "Who let the dogs out" were of course among the favorites.) She has already been chatting it up with the cute husky she met at the dog park.

Seriously though, Dogbook, an application for Facebook already has almost 120,000 active users, and www.doggyspace.com, a Facebook-like website for dogs is really taking off.

So, what are you waiting for! Friend her! http://www.facebook.com/people/Misha-Samoyed/100002372109099

It all began with a pair of bright red shorts.

Today, we* decided that it had been far too long since our last grand adventure. One of our favorite ways to adventure has always been via the Burke Gilman bike trail. It provided us with endless hours of entertainment, so today we decided to give back to the community.

Let us explain. Laura has always been tall, and her hair has always been of the sandy blonde (not "blond" because "blonde" is more feminine and we need that sort of self-esteem boost after today) variety. However, Hilary has always been slightly more vertically challenged, a handicap that has plagued her life for decades (yes, decades now). As a result, a good chunk of our friendship has consisted of trying to convince our parents that we could pass for sisters. Neither one of us was brave enough to dye our hair, and Hilary was never particularly skilled at walking with stilts. As a result, we resorted to wearing identical clothing, in hopes that this would somehow mask the naturally occurring physical discrepancies.

Today, we decided to relive a piece of that childhood. With bright red shorts.

We dug through Laura's reserves of old clothing until we found the gloriously attractive ensembles you see in these pictures.

In short (get it?), we roller bladed for 8 miles, clad as you see us in this picture. We didn't have enough fingers to count the funny looks we received as we went.

1. The grimace: This look included a lip curl which implied that we were ridiculous. Not in the funny, cute way, but in the "...wait, what??" sort of way.

2. The adorable stare: Usually given by older couples who were walking by. They decided that we were cute, not entertaining. The smile and the crinkled eyes let us know that we were in fact still capable of looking like teenagers. Or preteens.

3. The small child gawk: Every child we passed had no shame in staring at us with their mouths open, an expression of shock, surprise, but somehow never amusement.

Mission accomplished.

*co-authorship is awesome. And Laura's name will go before Hilary's because D'Asaro comes before Lim in the alphabet.

A Dog, a Girl, and her Mom Go For a Walk

A Story for Level 1 Readers Ages 4-7

This is Laura. She has a dog. Laura and the dog sit by a bog. The dog likes to walk. The dog likes to talk. "Woof! Woof!" says the dog. The dog is white. The dog is nice. She does not bite. The dog is furry. She has lots of hair, almost as much hair as a bear. My oh my, that dog has a lot of hair, I do declare.

This is Laura's mom. She is wearing a white hat. Is that a cat? Is that a rat?No! With the dog, that's where she's at! Danna and the dog go for a walk. They see a hawk. It is spring. The birds all sing. Everything is green. Everything is clean.

What a nice day to play. What do you say?

THE END

Gum Wall and Pike Place Market

Did you know there is an entire wall in downtown Seattle where everyone sticks their used gum? I didn't! I don't know how I lived 20 years here, and never discovered such a unique and fascinating, (if slightly unsanitary) place. It is located to the left of the entrance to Pike Place Market, but instead of entering the market you walk down a hill toward the water. After your eyes adjust to the light, you will see gum EVERYWHERE! There is even a gum ball machine, so my freshman year roommate Ivet and I put in 25 cents for a gum-ball and left our DNA on the wall.

All together, I think I haven't spent enough time at Pike Place. It is so much more than just flying fish and trinkets. From dreadlocks and tie-dyed mohawks to local artists and musicians, it really symbolizes the unique flavor of funky Seattle, and it made me realize again what a cool city Seattle is.

A post for Hilary

This post is for you Hilary, and it is going to be sentimental (possibly overly so at times) and a tad silly, but with good intentions, so hold onto your socks and take a nostalgic journey with me.

I never have to tell you how much you mean to me, because it is an unspoken communication, an unsaid understanding in the silences and in the laughter throughout the years, but I was feeling all mushy and tenderhearted looking at our picture, so I decided to write this blog for you.

It takes a long time to grow an old friend. ~John Leonard

I have known you for 5/6 of my life now, and that's a pretty long time. From macaroni lunches, playing bump on the swings, adventures getting stuck in mud, sliding down the stairs "whoosh" in plastic bag covered cushions, to middle school and broken bones and braces, to lemonade stands to different high schools and now thousands of miles apart, we have gone through a lot together.

I remember we used to dress up in the same colored clothes and ask my mom if we looked like twins and she would always replay "Yes! You look exactly alike!" and we would smile huge smiles. It didn't matter that I was always a head taller and my long red blond hair contrasted strikingly against your black.

There is nothing I can write here that you don't already know, but that's what makes it meaningful, so I want to say it anyway. I sometimes don't even realize how much I have changed until I am with you and I look at you and see we have both grown older.

You are the funniest person I know. You are the only person who has ever made me laugh so hard and uncontrollably that I couldn't stop until you made me play 52 card pick up until I could control myself. You have been there for everything, and I'm excited to watch us change together, follow our dream careers, get married, have kids (?), grow grey hair and still take pictures with those same identical smirks on our faces from when we were 5.

I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished. You are an amazing piano player, talented musician, and a beautiful friend! Thanks Hilary :)

Chilling in Seattle

2 weeks 1 day until I leave for Tanzania and I'm so excited to be home!

2 weeks until I leave for Tanzania, unpacking, lots of time with my mom :) So happy to be home.

13 days until I leave, and I'm getting a little bored... Walked 8 miles with Misha because I didn't know what else to do. I tied her up in front of Barnes and Noble for 10-15 minutes and apparently my Mom got a call from a concerned citizen saying they were going to call the police for animal abuse for leaving my dog tied up in the hot sun. Oops...

12 days until I leave, and seriously... that's a long time... What am I going to do?

Hanging out with my dog and my mom, enjoying the beautiful greenness of Seattle, (IT IS SO GREEN!) but miss all my Harvard friends! Thinking of you all!

Also, if you live anywhere near Seattle and you are reading this, let's hang out!

-Laura

Nicaragua Part II

Back at the internet cafe with more exciting giant bug stories. So, last night I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen! Its body was like 6 inches long and it was IN MY BED. They laugh at my dislike of bugs, and they told me the spider wasn´t dangerous... but still! Millipedes in the latrine, toads hopping all over the place, and ants that always crawl in my pants and bite. Really. I don't understand the evolutionary advantage, but as soon as anyone'd foot gets within crawling distance of ants, they come a bite-in and burying into shoes, and ouch! They really bite hard!

We also went and taught at the local high school. They are doing a project with recycling, and I have never seen so many signs about not littering and reusing everything, but somehow I have also never seen a school with so much trash all over the place! The culture of trash cans just hasn´t caught on, and it is super confusing. It makes me wonder who thought of putting snacks in plastic that doesn´t decompose for 100,000 years. Seriously? What a bad idea in a place where the wrappers are spread all over the place.

We taught a lesson on making bracelets from recyling old magazines, but they were teen girl magazines and one of the last things we saw was the boys laughing and running away with pictures of girls in bikinis. Plus, teaching in a foreign language seems a bit weird. Imagine foreigners coming into your class, not speaking your language, and trying to teach you. Anyway, it was a bit disasterous but came with good stories. My teaching of water testing was interupted by the boys telling me how pretty my eyes were and gestures behind backs that, althjough flattering, didn´t help with my trying to talk about lead and pesticide levels, and water testing kits, none of which are super familiar words in spanish.

Oh, and also, they had human fetuses in bottles in their science class! Really! Like fetuses from like 2 months to the biggest at maybe 6 months, but they were old and not well maintained and so they were growing green stuff and it was just really strange to see.

Also, this is the cheapest place I have ever been. Unlike in Kenya, where they charge outsiders a higher price, bargaining is not really part of the culture here. I got a big scoop of icecream in a cone, which would cost $4-$5 in the USA and it cost me $.25. It is amazing. We buy bags of mango, pineapples, potatoes, melons, and bananas, and it is still less than $5, even though our hands are so full of produce we can hardly carry any more.

The first picture is of me doing my laundry on a wash board. It actually got my clothes really clean.

The second picture is of me and some of the group walking a little ways from the community. Green green green!

The last picture is of us dressed up to go to a Quinceañera in the community. I want to learn how to salsa! Perhaps I will take classes next year at Harvard. Dancing here is so fun!

Nicaragua

Giant insects, huge frogs, and lots and lots of mud. That was my first impression of Nicaragua. We have had many adventures in finding insects in our beds, shoes, clothes, etc, but the wildlife really represents how alive everything is here. It is so green, with mango trees, papayas, and guayábana, (guayábana is a really cool prickly-pokey cactus-like delicious fruit), as well as all sorts of tropical fruits I have never even seen. We spent the last few days installing solar panels, getting to ride down tiny mud and rock roads in the back bed of a pickup truck. We waded through pig pens and across rivers to little houses almost all of which the people built themselves, and the families were really excited to have a light in their house. We spent half an hour yesterday getting the truck unstuck from the mud.

My host family is amazing. They have a 19 year old girl and a son who is in his early 20s. I am growing to love beans, rice, and maize tortillas, our food at each meal.

It was my host mom´s birthday yesterday, so we bought a cake for her and had a party with all the neighbors and she was really touched. There were definitely a few tears and lots of hugs. The community here really understands what is means to have a community. Everyone knows each other, often are related to each other, and always visit and call and really care about each other. It is really beautiful to see.

Also I LOVE the people on my trip, especially the girls I am living with. We spend a lot of time thinking about development and power issues and sustainability, so it is really my type of group. I am so happy I came, but I'm excited to see you guys soon.

Love,

Laura

Grapefruit Montage

Do you ever have one of those crazy weird ideas of something outrageous to do? It happens to me all the time. I suddenly have the urge to build a giant fort out of cardboard boxes or a boat from milk cartons or make a telephone from tin cans and string or just go running around campus being silly, but until now I've never found anyone to do this with. Then I met Andrew Murray (He is the one making aggressive faces at the grapefruit).

So, here's what happened. We were sitting eating breakfast and Andrew was eating a grapefruit with a spoon, but the juice was dripping down his chin and down his arm, and I made fun of him. Little did we know that under the craziness of finals period we would soon be making a grapefruit montage.

Based on a true story I would like to present:

In the greatest underdog story of our time, a seasoned grapefruit eater assists a young man in conquering a grapefruit.

This movie is rated NC17 for graphic grapefruit violence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBy2pwcxY3U