Exciting title for a blog post, eh? Well, things just got so busy with travels and then going back to site that I never got a chance to update my blog. After my travels to Dar and Zanzibar, I headed up to Bagamoyo. When I arrived, I went to a section of town where there was a recommended hotel on the beach. But, true to the sort of tourist lifestyle, they were pretty expensive, so I held off. It’s not that I wouldnt’ have enjoyed it and had a relaxing time on the beach, because I would have loved it, it’s just that my trip this month was based on going to tons of places and staying cheap and basically just SEEING places. I mean, why spend twice the amount on the hotel, when you can just wake up and then walk to the same beach and relax. Oh well, that was my idea then. So, after failing to get a beach hotel, I randomly met some tanzanians, who after hearing my problem, were confused why i wanted a cheaper hotel, because i’m white. Then i explained i’m a volunteer and a teacher, and turns out they were too, and then when we all learned that we all came from Mbeya, some tribal things were thrown out, and they wanted to help me all over the place. It was an odd vacation where that happened alot. So, I headed back to the main town area, and turns out that 5 million conferences were in Bagamoyo that weekend, so I ended up walking for 3 hours to find a hotel. So the next day I slept in, because hey, i had already walked all over town trying to find a hotel. I stayed for 2 nights and checked out the beaches and looked at the sites. Bagamoyo is kind of like a very laidback stone town but really tiny. They have the Arabic influences, being on the coast, and the architecture and lifestyles are similar. They have some of the oldest buildings in tanzania, and alot of the old arabic slave trade was routed through here. Every night it looked like there was a huge fish market right on the beach with plastic buckets and fishers selling their catches. If I lived there, or had a place to cook, it would have been fun to sit around and bargain for some fresh fish, but alas, not this time.
After Bagamoyo, I headed back to Dar and caught a bus the next day to Tanga/Lushoto. I stayed in Korogwe for a night or two, and met a guy named Bill Singh, who turned out to be a huge resource. I stayed at his house, he drove me around Old and New Korogwe, and we saw all of his investments in tanzania, including a stone quarry and a large car garage, where all of the government vehicles in the area will come to get a tune up (ie, he’s going to make tons of cash). Basically it was a good time, and we were both sort of lonely guys in the country and stayed up lately having some drinks and talking. After Korogwe, I went up to Lushoto region, where I saw other volunteers’ sites. I made it to a place called Mtei, where it was said that if you wake up at/before dawn, you can see Kilimanjaro in the distance. Sadly, there were clouds that day, so I missed out, but the view down into the flatlands from way up high where we were was amazing. I hiked from here back down towards a volunteer’s site, and we did alot of cooking and hanging out. These volunteers were all heading down to Lushoto for the weekend, and so we joined with them and headed to town. By this point, I had met up with Amber, a PCV who lives near me, and we went on a hike near Lushoto to this outlook. I later found out that it is listed in Lonely Planet’s guide of things to do, or so they told me, but in my mind I thought we would be on a long grueling hike. It was a tiny incline that didn’t last long since we were catching up with friends, and we made it to this edge of a cliff/bluff where you can see for hundreds of miles. It was fantastic and I took many photos. When we arrived, clouds were rolling by, and it was like we were in a cloud, and you looked off the cliff-only white. It was fantastic and yet creepy. The clouds cleared, however, and it seemed we were above most of the clouds in the distance, which made shadows on the tiny villages and towns below. It was sort of like going to the top of the Arch, the Sears Tower, the Eiffel Tower, or a host of different things, and yet it was a natural environment.
After the short hike, Amber and I booked it to Tanga town, where we stayed with this doctor that many of the peace corps people knew. We ate alot of Indian food, and not just Indian food, but Indian food with seafood, like prawns. Fabulous. I went with 2 other volunteers to a sort of late night dance party, that’s supposedly a cultural event, but really that means it’s just ladies dressed up in their finest and men just watching them dance (and by dance, i mean sort of stand there and do nothing). Well, us volunteers decided to go out and shake it up and have a great time and then call it an early night, compared to them, who kept dancing forever. The next day, we woke up early and went back to the restaurant we ate at the night before, and swam to a deserted island in the distance. This involved a one hour swim to the island, and then tromping around barefoot into the jungle. I ended up going further down a path, because the others felt some sort of spiky things on the ground, which perhaps my feet with huge soles didn’t get hurt from. I kept going til I found some ruins of an Arabic temple that was mainly some falling down buildings with several rooms. I decided it would be fun to keep going down the path further. Sometimes I would think the ancient path ended, only to see a path a bit further in the spiky brush. I kept going til I really did lose the path, which was a LONG way, all the while, of course, walking through spiky underbrush (crawling on all fours at one point), and then returning. I came back to meet the others at the water and began to tell them about my trip and the thorns, when i looked over at my shoulder and a stick was stuck to my skin, and i pulled it off. Emphasized my story i guess. They said my back was full of lashes like I had been whipped all morning. Heh. Oh well, the next hour was spent swimming back to the mainland. I seriously doubt I could have swam that much two years ago.
That same day, we headed out to the market in town, where I bought a new shirt. The prices were much different there, where I bought a shirt that was below my normal price, but he accepted to quick, I guess the price was much lower. Shrug. We ate some more food, and I went on a search with another volunteer for bbq like meat to eat, and ended up at this place he had never seen (but will from here on out always eat there), and we had a feast- bbq and doritos. Yes, it seemed very American, and I enjoyed it.
After Tanga, I came back to Dar, then headed back to Mbeya. In Mbeya, I met with Kava to copy exams for the form four’s pre-mock exams (In the future, as in last night, i just listened to a bbc show ‘africa have your say’ asking if students are overworked with too many exams. hehe), and then we headed back to site. There hasn’t been too much since then. The students took their exam, then we have taught a little bit, and my students are now preparing for their district mock exams, and later for national exams (too many exams, huh?). I got a huge box of books from my mother, which was AMAZING, and so I’ve upped my reading in the village, along with my studying and teaching. It’s been just normal village life, but I’m living great.
This week brings me to Tukuyu on my way to Dar then Arusha for our COS conference (close of service), because we all need some reminding on how to transition back to american life. Plus, we spend some time working on our description of service, the document we use for all official use in resumes and such about our service. It’s all slowly coming to an end. At COS conference, we are having a sort of prom like thing, where we are all getting tailored made clothing, and I’m getting stuff made as well. Pictures will come later.
Well, that’s all for now. I’ll update as I’ll be in town for over the next week. Sorry for the lack of updates. Also, on a random note, my dog had 7 puppies. Sweet. 4 girls and 3 boys. When I get back, hopefully they’ll be all walking around and be fun to play with.
That’s all for now. Til next time!
