An Actual Class

Nov 20

This morning I again went to good hope. I was able to get the key to the music room, and during break I helped teach some of the more ambitious students some more guitar chords. Magere got there for the class, and we continued teaching chords. As this was the oldest class we get (I think they are grade 6), class went very smoothly and they did very well with their learning. Halfway through all of the boys left (I'm not sure why) so me and Magere were giving the girls many examples of women guitar players, as some of the girls didn't believe they could become musicians because of their gender. We capped this off by singing Revolution by Tracy Chapman. The class ran over time because the students were having so much fun, and we sang many more songs. I was the only one when I got home, but soon Audrey got back from work and we went to the pool, as it was one of the nicest days there had been in a while. Mount Meru was even visible, a rarity in the short rainy season. One of the side effects of the antimalarial pills I take is that I sunburn more easily, so unfortunately when I fell asleep on the deck there were some drastic consequences. Because of the angle of the sun however the burn was only on one side of my body. That night I played and lost at kill ball, and went to bed, getting ready for an early morning the next day.

Singing

Nov 19

Another day at Upendo Face spent playing my guitar for the orphans. Their favourite song currently is Wagon Wheel, which they refer to as bocky mama. The oldest one there, Jovin, really loves Jasper by Aiden Knight, and has learned most of the words to the chorus, and acts as my right hand when I play it. There were few enough volunteers today that I was able to teach in a class as opposed to just doing one on one. We worked on counting and addition, as well as a little bit of the alphabet. Second class was all colouring, and then I made them paper  Airplanes. I had a lazy afternoon involving a nap and guitar jamming, and went to bed early.

Exams

Nov 18

I once again went to good hope today, but I went in the morning. Because of the torrential downpours the last night the roads were in very rough shape, full of massive puddles and streams, and very washed out. I got there about an hour early, and spent that time performing for the students. When Magere showed up we prepared for class, but then the headmaster informed us that the students were doing exams, so there would be no music class. Why he couldn't inform us of this prior to the class I don't know. At this point in time I didn't have enough time to make it all the way to Upendo Face before their day was over, so Magere and I just jammed for awhile before I went back home. Another torrential downpour on the way back unfortunately, but this time I was smart enough to bring a raincoat. The lower was off and on again the whole day but now (Thursday evening) it has seemed to have recovered.

Good Hope Round 2

Nov 17

Finally I was able to go to good hope again. Unfortunately I did not check the class schedule before I went to bed, so I got up 4 hours early as class didn't start untill the afternoon. My morning consisted of playing my guitar on the balcony and an exhausting trip to the massai market. This is a market for buying souvenirs with many different vendors, always trying to get you into their shop and sell you their wares. When I got home I only had time for a quick lunch before I left. I decided to take a pigypigy there as it would be easier with my guitar. This is a type of motorcycle taxi notorious for their dangerous driving. Luckily I managed to find a sane (and sober) one and was on my way. We got a little lost on the way but luckily I budgeted that into my commute so I got there right on time. Magere (the music teacher) and I decided it would be good to teach the kids how to actually play guitar, so we showed them how to play the Am Dm and E chords. Then we got them up 5 at a time (as there are only 5 guitars) and made them play the Am chord. Lastly before I left I taught them all the chorus to Wagon Wheel, and we all sang it together. On the way home it started pouring rain, and I didn't have a coat so I got soaked. Luckily my guitar case is mostly  waterproof so no harm came to the guitar. I couldn't have a nice warm shower when I got home because the power was out. The outage remained into the night, so we had to have a candle lit dinner. It came back for about an hour, but remains out now, noon the next day. The biggest problem has been charging my phone, which is now on the brink of dying. Hopefully it will be back on again tonight!

The Rereturn to Upendo

Nov 16

As there was no music class at Good Hope today I once again returned to Upendo Face. It was a typical day with me playing guitar for the fascinated children most of the time. They all love to strum the guitar, and are mesmerised by my tuner. Two of the staff from the house were visiting the orphanage, so I got a ride back with them, so I didn't have to navigate the dala dala with my guitar. When I got back home Peter (the other guy in our apartment) and I went out into the town and bought some toothbrushes for the orphanage. After this we had leftover cake, as it was one of the girls who lives in the house's birthday. Everyone from the house went out for dinner afterwards to celebrate both her and Andreas' birthdays.

Christmas Market

Nov 15

Today we went to the Christmas market, which was not what I expected it to be. After cramming too many people into the cab in the wrong way, my left leg was so numb I collapsed upon exiting the cab. The market turned out to be a bunch of tents in a green field, not far off from any fair you could find in  Canada. The majority of the people in the place were mzungus, with some even running the booths. Everything was at fixed prices. Soon I resorted to eating, as it was the most exciting thing to do there. For dinner we ordered pizza and watched a movie on the communal TV. I went to bed early to rest up for tomorrow's day at the orphanage.

Hot Springs

Nov 14

This day I went with 5 other people from the house to the "hot springs" which was a slightly misleading name as it was more of a cold pool in a forest. Fine by me in the 30° Tanzanian weather. The journey there took about two  hours, most of which was on a dusty dirt road. For the journey we got our own dala dala, but it was not sealed very well, so most of the journey was spent sitting in a cloud of dust. At the hot springs there was a rope swing and a tree you could climb and drop into the water. After swimming for a couple hours we had a lunch of chips mayai, and then it was time to go home again. The evening proceeded as normal and I ended up going to bed at a normal time.

Graduation

Nov. 13

This was the day one of the guys who works at the house graduated from  university. Nearly everyone living here sent to Moshi to support him. Moshi is the city at the foot of mount Kilimanjaro, and is about a two hour bus ride away. At the bus station there was a fight over us as customers, as usual. The buses here are basically glorifed dala dalas, and as many people are crammed on as possible. There is very little leg room. The whole time a low quality TV show in Swahili played, the volume very loud. When we arrived in Moshi, and dropped off all the other passengers, we paid the driver extra to take us straight to the university. There there were many vendors selling flowers and other gifts to give to graduates. We met Abraham (the graduate) quickly, and took some photos with him, then moved on to the ceremony. One of Abraham's friends served as our guide. The ceremony was long, and mostly consisted of long speeches in Swahili that we did not understand. Afterwards we took some more pictures and a small tour of the town, and saw a coffee farm there. Then we went to where Abraham is living. His parents both died recently, so he has been living with another older man, and different people have come together to help him through school. Some more of his friends were there, as well as his sisters. We had a cake, but in the Tanzanian way. This involved Abraham feeding a piece to each of us, oldest to youngest (of course I was last), then all of us would feed him a peice, but we just had the oldest do it to represent all of us, so Abraham didn't explode. Then it was time for lunch, noodles, sauce, and fried bananas, eaten with the hands. When we left, we got the whole bus to ourselves for a little extra, and it drove us all the way to the apartments. It was Andreas' birthday, so we had cake and then went out to the bar. All in all a very good day!

The Return to Upendo Face

Nov 12

Due to a combination of events, including the theft last night, only one volunteer was headed to Upendo this day, so I decided to change my plans of going to good hope, and accompany her there so she wouldn't be completely overwhelmed. I once again brought my guitar as it  fascinates the children, and always keeps a few of them occupied. Other than that it was mostly a normal day, I had to teach class one alone, which is the youngest and biggest class at Upendo, but I managed. I went to bed early again due to the lack of sleep in the previous night, and mental exhaustion.

Lake Manyara

Nov 11
The last day on safari was spent in lake manyara conservation area, which was not as exciting as the other parks as it was still in the dry season. While remembrance day is not something anyone celebrates here I still took a minute of silence to remember our soldiers, however I had no access to a poppy to wear. I got back to the house in the late afternoon, and said  good bye to my travel companions and the driver and cook. The rest if the day I spent relaxing after my big adventure. 2 am I was woken by someone pounding on the door of my apartment, but Peter, another man I share the apartment with, beat me to it. Turns out a girl got her passport, credit card, and phone stolen that night, and needed money to pay for her cab ride home. Luckily by this time she has recovered her passport, and she had a backup card, so all is well again. However that was not a very restful night for me.

Ngorogoro

Today we rose at a normal time, and had breakfast before descending into the crater. The view was breathtaking. Highlights included a lion kill, and a rhino sighting, although it was much too far away to take a picture of. Apart from there only being 16 rhinos in the crater they also always try to hide from the wind, so they can be difficult to spot. After the climb back out of the crater we made our way back to the campground from the first night, and prepared to head to lake manyara national park the next morning.

Serengeti Part 2

Nov 9

The second day on the Serengeti we woke up before sunrise to get the best lighting and to see the most animals. When we got back for lunch it started pouring rain again, but luckily camp had already been broken down. We then continued to Ngorogoro conservation area and set up camp on the rim of the crater. An elephant showed up to camp to drink out of the water tank soon after we got there. Where we were camped it was at high enough elevation to need a few layers to keep warm. We went to bed early, exhausted from our third day of safari.

Serengeti Part 1

Nov 8

This was the day we began the long trek to Serengeti national park. To get there we passed through Ngorogoro conservation area, and got to look down into the crater there, which was formed by a volcanic explosion years ago. Also along the way we stopped at a massai village but it was a little bit too touristy for my taste, so I may try to go to a more authentic one later on in my trip. There are many massai villages around as we make our way through the national parks, and many of the massai are in sad shape begging for food and water on the side of the road. At last we made it to Serengeti, and had lunch at the park gate, with a view of what seemed to be endless grass plains. The drive through was very different from Tarangire in the fact that the herds of animals were much more immense. We drove into the evening, with one downpour along the way, and then set up camp under open sky. The whole night there was constant lightning in the distance, but it was so far away we couldn't even hear the thunder.

We saw leopards today but I don't have any good pictures so I'm going to have to wait until I get some better ones.