St. Thomas Kilakala

The view of the front of St. Thomas Kilakala monastery, our hotel for the past 3 weeks.
Today is our last day in Morogoro. The past three weeks have flown by. This morning we had class for two hours, practicing speaking Kiswahili with each other, and then the group met to give the teachers a final evaluation of the course. After lunch a few people went to the pool at the Hotel Morogoro. I am going to get a drink and relax until dinner.
We are leaving early tomorrow morning to go back to Dar Es Salaam.

Malaria

I've got Malaria. There is a mini- epidemic of Malaria going around our compound. As of today 3 teachers and now 6 volunteers have Malaria. I feel fine. I went to get tested because I was feeling very tired the last couple of days and a few other people found out that they have Malaria as well.
My test came back positive 2/7, which is relatively low, but still positive. So, I started taking the malaria treatment regimen.
Its ironic because I went to the dispensary earlier today to speak to the doctor to interview him about medicine and hospitals in Tanzania as an assignment, and I asked him how many cases of malaria he sees a day. Malaria is very common I was told and usually there are about 20 new cases of Malaria diagnosed at the St. Thomas dispensary every day.
Despite taking my Malaria prophylactic meds, sleeping under a mosquito netting, using DEET anti mosquito creams and sprays on clothes I managed to get Malaria. I guess I don't feel so bad because so many people here now have the disease. I'll have to take the treatment and get my test of cure in a couple of weeks.
I'm just wondering if I could make some money developing a t-shirt that reads "I came to Tanzania and all I got was a case of Malaria"

Itinerary

A little bit of good news today-
I was told by my PSO (program support officer) that my accomodations and itinerary in Ndanda has been confirmed.
So this Sunday I'm going to return to Dar Es Salaam for 4 more days of "in-country" briefings and then I'm scheduled to fly to Mtwara on the 31st. In Mtwara I'll meet one of the volunteer leaders who will go with me to Ndanda to get settled in my house.
I know the house is located on the hospital compound and has electricity, and internet connectivity, so I should have my laptop and skype hooked up by then. If you don't have skype, then sign up because calls are free.
Tonight is a dinner out with all of the volunteers and the VSO staff who drove from Dar today. We're going to "Dragonaire's" - a bar/restaurant that serves the best food I've had in this town so far. After Dragonaire's we're going to Kuhumu's Night Park (also known as "The Cheesy Club") because of its "cheesy" night club ambiance. The "Cheesy Club" is a bar with a few pool tables and a large dance floor that often is filled with Tanzanian's who love to dance until early morning!
I go purely to "study" the night life and culture in Tanzania....

Lupanga

Don't let the expression on my face fool you, this picture was taken at the very beginning of my hike up Mount Lupanga. It would be quite an understatement to say I was not a very happy camper by the time we returned home.

Yesterday I hiked up to the top of Mount Lupanga. Lupanga is the tallest of the three mountains that make up the Uluguru mountains of Morogoro, and at its peak it is 2150 meters above sea level.

Our hike took twelve and half hours from start to finish. Seven hours to reach the peak and 5 1/2 hours to climb down the mountain. We made two stops on our way up. By the second stop, two people decided they would not make it to the top but I joined one other person and our tour guide and we did make it to the peak.

Had I known how difficult it would have been to reach the peak and back I would have never decided to do the hike. Approximately the last half of Lupanga involves a hike through the forest, up a very narrow dirt path that twists and turns through trees at a very steep incline. The last hour up the mountain was by far the most difficult as the incline was the steepest, almost 90 degrees, requiring using roots and trees to pull ourselves up. Our tour guide would say "pole pole" (very slowly) and "keep left"; when I saw the cliff falling off next to me, I knew why.
When we reached the peak I was completely exhausted, yet exhilerated and also a little disappointed because we were surrounded by trees with no view. At the peak is a tall ladder like structure which you can climb to get a view, but I didn't have enough energy to do so.
Getting back down the mountain was by far more challenging than reaching the top. A muddy trail, covered with wet leaves, roots and large rocks, falling straight down, made it incredibly challenging. So difficult that I did not hike down the mountain, rather I slid down most of the way.
In retrospect, I don't regret the hike, and I'm happy I made it to the top, but now I'm confident that I will not be climbing any more mountains in the near future, or quite possibly not again in this lifetime. And, if by chance you ever come to visit me in Tanzania, I would not recommend climbing Lupanga unless you are asking for a little bit of pain and a lot of agony!!

Mrembo

Piga picha

Karibu, Habari yako? Ninatasema kidogo kuhusu siku zangu katika Tanzania. Mara kwa mara niliamka kati ya saa kumi na mbili na saa kumi na moja. Ninapoamka asubuhi, pengine ninasoma lakini, kwa kawaida ninaoga na kula chakula cha asubuhi. Baada ya chakula cha asubuhi, nina kwenda dasarani saa mbili kamili mpaka saa tisa na nusu. Wanafunzi wanajifunza Kiswahili saa mbilli mpaka saa nne halafu wana pumzika na kunywa chai kwa dakika thelathini. Tunajifunza mpaka saa sita na nusu halafu tunakula chakula cha mchana kwa saa moja. Tunarudi dasarani saa saba na nusu na tunajifunza mpaka saa tisa na nusu. Baada ya tunajifunza, kwa kawaida tunakwenda mjini kutumia internet au nunua chakula sokoni. Chakula cha usiku saa moja halafu tunapumzika au tunakwenda "Dragonaire" Baa karibu hotel wetu kunywa bia baridi!

Translated:

Welcome! How are you? I am going to tell you a little about my days in Tanzania. Everyday I wake up between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning. When I wake up in the morning, sometimes I read but usually I shower and go to breakfast. After breakfast I go to class from 8 o'clock until 3:30 in the afternoon. The students study from 8 until 10 and then we rest and drink tea for thirty minutes. We study until half past 12 and then we eat lunch for one hour. We return to class at 1:30 and we study until 3:30. After we study we usually go into town to use the internet or to buy food in the market. We eat dinner at 7 and then we rest or we go to the "Dragonaire" bar near our hotel to drink cold beers!

Its becoming a little bit easier to write and to speak Kiswahili. Writing and speaking in class is one thing but when I'm in town speaking with the locals, it is still hard to communicate and especially understand what people say. It is easy to greet people, which is a very important skill to have here in terms of making a good first impression and developing a rapor with people.

We had a short lecture on "At the hospital", so I have a rough working knowledge of some basic medical terminology. When it comes to learning medical terminology in Kiswahili I have been prioritizing the words I learn, so I have started with words like push and breathe:)

I was happy to learn the words for many organ systems as well as practical words/phrases that are needed in the hospital every day. I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to have a translater at the hospital and if there is one, he/she won't be available at all times, so obviously learning as much of the language is essential.

More pictures

Morogoro

Morogoro's population is roughly 250,000 people and its the 3rd largest city in Tanzania. Dar Es Salaam is the largest city with approximately 3 million people. This road is about a ten minute walk from where I'm staying in Morogoro and also about 10 minutes by car to the center of the city. This road is actually in very good condition compared to the roads that lead to my "hotel". It is in fact hard for cars to drive up the road to the "hotel" because there is a crater like ditch in the middle of the road about 3 feet deep, which fills with water during the rainy season.

In any event if you take this road west about ten minutes you would arrive at the center of Morogoro. In "downtown" Morogoro you would find the many dukas (shops), and a relatively large and very lively/bustling fruit and vegetable market that is filled with people, many buyers and sellers, eager to sell you their produce. All of the fruits and vegetables are very cheap by American standards, but its still common practice to bargain/negotiate prices with the merchants, which is both fun and good practice!

This Sunday I'm scheduled to hike up to the peak of the mountain in this picture (~2150 meters). Its 9 hours up and down so I imagine it will be quite an adventure if nothing else!:)

IMBA

I was feeling a little discouraged and frustrated late this morning during language class.

My Kiswahili class is taught by 4 teachers who work for the company KIU. KIU's philosophy is to teach students both how to speak the language and to learn about the culture in Tanzania. The first week we learned a lot of new vocabulary and practical phrases/sentences, including greetings and speaking about people in the present, past and future tenses. Today we started work on the "Noun Classes". In Kiswahili there are 7 Noun Classes, each noun class is grouped according to some underlying commonality to the words in the class. Most words are Bantu in origin but there are many Arabic words as well.

Today's class was more intense - we started breaking down each sentence into word categories - Nouns, subject prefixes, demonstratives, possesives, numbers, adjectives, singular and plural, etc. Learning the subtle variations within each of the 7 noun classes involves alot of work and practice!!

Usually when I'm feeling frustrated or discouraged I spend more time studying or reading to improve, but we were told to take a break from learning Noun classes for the rest of the day. Instead we spent the afternoon singing (Imba:)

The twelve of us sat in the classroom while our teachers first sang the Tanzanian national anthem and then three other traditional Tanzanian songs, some of which are sung every day in classrooms and others at big events. We practiced singing with the teachers and then sung our own National Anthems (if willing). Finally we all stood in a circle to sing a very simple song, but one that involved everyone's participation and a little solo performance:)

Had I known singing would be involved in this job description, I might have had second thoughts, but rest assured the windows are still intact! :) And sorry I don't have any pictures of me singing :)

Kiswahili

The computers here are hit or miss (as expected), and today I'm on a computer that can't post any pictures :( The wait at the internet cafes can be very long (up to an hour and a half) and if you are lucky you will get a computer that can upload pictures. Unfortunately today I wasn't so lucky. Next time I'll try to post my new pictures!
After class we met with a couple of tour guides to arrange a hike on Sunday. Two tour guides met us and discussed hiking up the mountains here in Morogoro. The men in our group decided to hike up the highest mountain (2150 meters) and the women chose to hike up the smaller one (about 1000 meters).
We rested for a little bit this afternoon and then walked down the road to try and catch a Dala Dala into town. One of the taxis drove by and offered to drive us for 2,000 shillings (a fair price), so we accepted and all hopped in. Its only a 5 minute drive into town but to walk usually takes about 30 -40 minutes.
There are a few internet cafe's in town but we all use Valentine's internet cafe because it seems to have the fastest connection. Rates are very cheap - usually 30 minutes of internet costs about 500 shillings (a little less than 50 cents).
Wednesday and Saturday nights we eat dinner out in town, so tonight we are eating the hotel Accropo. Accropo is known to be a wazungu (white people) hangout and the food is supposed to be pretty good.
That's it for now; still staying healthy and enjoying Morogoro.
Another week and a half here until I return to Dar Es Salaam.....

Safari

On our day off today, we went on a safari! About two hours south of Morogoro by Dala Dala lies the Mikumi National Park (the 4th largest game reserve in Tanzania) and home of the lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and many more :).

To get the best view of the lions we had to stand on top of our Dala Dala. The lions are the favorite and aren't seen every day.

We saw 3 of the "big five" - the lions, elephants, and buffalo. We did not see any leopards or rhinos.

We ate breakfast at the "Hippo pond" where a large family of hippos was resting on the opposite side of the pond, so not a great photo op. The hippos share the pond with a few crocodiles who probably just ate breakfast too as the bright red hue of blood on the ground was unmistakenly apparent.

The hippos and elephants were my favorite. Its quite a site to see these animals in their natural habitat. The baboon was a close second. One of the baboons was sitting in the middle of the road and refused to move out of the way until the last second before we almost ran him over.

Safari

Futbol

Futbol

After lunch on Saturday, we went to the futbol game. Simba vs. Korogea. The stadium was full of Simba fans (the local favorite). There was a group of about a dozen die hard Simba fans behind us that were blowing horns, chanting and singing throughout the entire match.

Before and during the game, security guards and police with helmets and batons were managing the crowds. Luckily Simba was favored and they won 2-1, so the fans left happy without any rioting.

Sokoni

Friday's Kiswahili class was on "Sokoni" (At the market). We learned how to say the names of fruits and vegetables and most importantly the phrases we need to use at the market, like punguza bei "lower your price!". We were warned ahead of time that because we are Wazungu's (white people) we would be given higher prices and need to bargain with the merchants. My assignment was to buy two bunches of okra and two avocados. I paid 1200 shillings (about $1.20) which according to my teachers was a rip off!

We used the fruits and vegetables to cook lunch on Saturday. The teachers bought 3 chickens which we killed and then cooked with the vegetables. We started cooking around 8 and finished by about 1:30. I didn't realize that cooking in Tanzania would take so long, but the food was delicious - chicken, coconut rice, pilau, beans, ugali and pineapple. And we made more than enough, probably more than most families here eat in a week.

Morogoro

More pictures from Morogoro. Amazing sites and picturesque views in this city. I can't describe how rich the culture and people are here....
I have 2 more weeks of Kiswahili language class in Morogoro. Then I'll be back in Dar Es Salaam for 3 days of briefing on my work. Then I'll depart to Ndanda to start work at St. Benedict's Hospital.

Today we've been given the assignment to practice speaking with the locals. Quite entertaining for both of us!

Karibu

Karibu! Habari? Jani langu ni Neil. Ninatoka Amerika. Nita kanyafazi daktari na nita kaa Ndanda! (Welcome! How are you? My name is Neil. I'm from America. I am working as a doctor and I am staying in Ndanda!)
Greetings from Morogoro, Tanzania! What a beautiful city and what an adventure its been so far!
I'm staying at the St. Tomas Monastery hotel for a 3 week Kiswahili language class.
We have class from 8 to 3:30 normally 6 days a week.
This city is amazingly beautiful! The first day in Morogoro we went on a hike through the town, along a path through the hills; spectacular views of mountains and streams! 2nd from the left is Benji, our tour guide and one of our 3 Kiswahili language teachers.