Homestay!

Hey everyone,
Today was homestay day. Jeanne and I were partners, and we went in the morning to our designated hosts' home. Our hosts consisted of Clara, a 25-yr-old, Elizabeth, her 2.5-yr-old, Clara's brother Theobold, 22-yrs-old and almost graduated from secondary school, and their parents, with whom we interacted little. Clara and Theo both spoke English fairly decently. We started off with a tour of the property, where Clara showed us the cows, pig, goats, and crops, and she picked some mgazi (or something) beans. Then we had a couple glasses of delicious chai tea, and then we separated the beans from the pods. Ensuite, we watched as Clara and her mother cooked lunch, which consisted of rice and potatoes, ugali, cabbage and onions and tomatoes, and a cooked leafy vegetable they called "Chinese." Also the cooked mgazi beans. It was all delicious. After lunch, I sat outside with Theo while the ladies washed dishes (they just laughed when I wanted to help) and cooked tasty chapati. We had a nice chat about education, future aspirations, animals, etc... Then we went on a short hike to the top of a hill and got a nice view of Rhotia. We could see both Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro forest (where we're going on Friday). When we returned, Theo showed us some pictures that he has of his school, and we drank more chai and ate more chapati. Then they clearly had nothing more for us to do, so we sat awkwardly for a while. We eventually pulled out a swahili book for funny phrases, and then a deck of cards. I showed them some crappy card tricks and taught them crazy 8's. Then we took some pictures (BTW i finally managed to get some pictures uploaded on facebook so if you're my friend you can check those out) and left. It was a really cool experience. It was good to be able to immerse myself in the everyday lives of these people instead of just hear about it. As one of our teachers said at dinner tonight, if someone doesn't know about a microwave, they can be just as happy without one as someone is with one. TV commercials and media make us want to think these folks live in squalor and misery but really they make it work and they have complete capacity for love, happiness, contentment, etc.
Anyway, I thought I'd give an update on that. Now I'm going to try to get some work done.

p.s.

If anyone's interested in hearing about our SFS adventures from another point of view, maybe with a more descriptive or compelling voice, here are some of my peers' blogs.

Zarah’s : zee2africa.blogspot.com

Leila's : http://leilaq.wordpress.com/

Katie’s : http://hakunamatatatoyou.blogspot.com/

Carie’s : http://www.carriekern.blogspot.com/

Seth's : www.adventurevoice.blogspot.com

The gang takes a trip to Tarangire

Hey everybody,
It's a cool 25 degrees C and partially cloudy here on Moyo hill. Yesterday the gang took a trip to Tarangire National Park. We spent the morning doing a population counting exercise using road transects and GPS etc. We saw lots of zebra, elephant, ostrich, wildebeest, impala, bushbuck, dikdik, and more. We also saw three cheetahs and a lion, so that was exciting to see some carnivores. They were far away and laying in the shade, though, nothing too interesting. My new goal is to see some serious hunting/feeding action. After the animal viewing, we went to the safari lodge. It was very classy and relaxing. They had couches (which we haven't seen in a couple weeks), an awesome view of the park, and a very refreshing pool where we got to swim (and remove some layers of dirt). I also bought a swahili book to supplement the class and hopefully clarify some things.
On Saturday, we went to an orphanage in the nearby town Mto wa Mbu for some community service. We built them a quite impressive see-saw and a little playhouse. Then we played with the little rascals for hours. It was fun, and exhausting.
That's all for today. Maybe someday I'll manage to get a picture or two on here.

Fridayyyyyy

Not that it means anything. We have class until next Thursday. I miss weekends. This week we visited both a Maasai and an Iraqw "boma". At the Maasai one, the ladies sang some songs for us and we got to see inside their huts and they answered our questions. It's such a different life from what I've ever experienced. It really goes to show how we don't need most of the things we have. At the Iraqw boma, a guy explained how they make pottery, beer, houses, baskets, and wedding skirts. Then we got to dance with them. It's interesting to see the differences between the tribes.
Yesterday we went to the local secondary school graduation ceremony in Rhotia, the neighboring town. It was in a big building made of cement and wood, without a floor or glass in the windows. We listened to some long speeches in Swahili, out of which I would pick out an occasional Mmarekani (American) or moji (one), mbili (two), etc... There was some nice singing and dancing as well. I find their harmonies beautiful. I always try to see if I can pin time signatures on the songs, but I usually fail.
They've been keeping us very busy, as usual. Classes throughout the day, meals, readings, and homework have received the bulk of my time. There's not really any alone time, either, which I am not used to. There are always people everywhere. Overall it's been a good time.
Plans for climbing Kilimanjaro after the program may be developing. A friend Katie has a trip all planned out and it would be pretty easy to add more people. So that may happen.
Time for class! Kwaheri

This is not Disneyworld...

But the field trip we went on kind of felt like it. Yesterday we spent the day driving around Lake Manyara national park. It was amaaaazing. I saw: yellow-billed storks, blue monkeys, olive baboons, impalas, maasai giraffes, southern ground hornbills, vervet monkeys, great white pelicans, palm-nut vultures, hippopotamus, blue wildebeest, common zebras, warthogs, buffalo, close to thirty elephants, rock hyraxes, banded mongoose, ostrich, dikdiks, flamingoes, collared sunbird, and a bushbuck, to name a few. I was amazed at how much wildlife there was. The park was dense with it! I couldn't grasp how they could all possibly live and thrive without destroying the park. It kind of makes me wonder how much biodiversity could be going on in America without humans. We are definitely the most invasive species there is. Vines and beetles wipe out trees, invasive fish wipe out other fish, we wipe out everything. It's kind of unfortunate that it has to be that way.
Anyway, that safari was a lot of fun. Today is Sunday and we have a day off. A group is going into Karatu to explore the town for a while, but I think I may stay back. We haven't had much time to just chill, and I could go for some relaxation, though I do really want to see Karatu, which will be the biggest town we go into yet.
The past few days have been spent with a ton of class time, frisbee, and volleyball. I've definitely been getting some good exercise. Also we have a ton of reading we have to do, and not much time to do it. I'd like to do some work on that today as well.
Also, I've decided not to get a phone for the moment. Some people have gotten cellphones and simcards, but I'm going to see how it works out without one. E-mail and internet works fine for now.
Until next time!

First post from Africa!

Jambo! After three and a half days of travel, four flights, and a drive, I finally made it to our camp near Karatu, Tanzania. It’s very cool here. SFS recently leased the land for like 15 years, and all the buildings were just recently built and finished. We’ve been kept busy so far. We’ve gone through some orientation and learned some Swahili (habari=how are you?, kwaheri=goodbye, mambo=’sup? Etc…). Today we went into the village to break up into small groups and test our greetings with the locals. My group followed a road until we heard some drumming music, which we followed until we found a group of people drumming and dancing. I got to dance with them. That was pretty exciting. Then we walked through the clinic and saw some sick people, then came back to camp and played volley ball.
The group of kids that I’m with is great. They’re from all over, from Maine to Texas to Washington. I think we’re going to get quite close over the next few months.
The internet here is painfully slow. Skyping and other online chatting probably won’t be possible. We might get some cell phones, but I don’t know when we’ll get around to figuring that out.
Until next post! Kwaheri!

Welcome

Hello everyone!

This is a blog (named after the first chapter of one of my all-time favorite books) that I've set up to keep people like you informed of my activities in East Africa. For those of you who don't know, I will be spending this Fall 2010 semester in Tanzania and Kenya with the School for Field Studies. I, along with about thirty other students, will be taking part in the Comparative Wildlife Management Studies program. We'll be taking these classes: Wildlife Ecology, Wildlife Management, Environmental Policy and Socio-economic Issues, and a culture and Swahili class. The second half of the semester, for which I'll be in Kenya, will include a "directed research" project.

Anyways, I hope to take lots of pictures and keep this blog updated fairly regularly for those of you interested in my activities. That said, I still don't know how much time I'll have with internet access and I do plan on being busy, so who knows how often I'll be able to post.

If you want to write me a letter, here's my address for the first half of the semester:

Devin Stone
SFS Center for Wildlife Management Studies, Tanzania,
P.O. Box 304,
KARATU, TANZANIA

I leave this Saturday the 4th and I get there Monday! I'm getting pretty excited! Stay tuned!