Our class is getting better and better at speaking Swahili, and this past week we went on a field trip to the market. We prepared by learning a lot of vocab and phrases about fruits and vegetables, and bargaining. Unlike in America, where everything has a fixed price, there are many markets where you can bargain to get a better deal. Another cultural difference I've noticed is that many people assume you have a lot of money if you are white and may try to sell their products at a higher price to you. The school gave us each 2000 Tanzanian shillings (which is equivalent to about $1 USD), and we were asked to get as many fruits and vegetables as we could. My roommate and I walked away with a pineapple, four limes, green beans, and many tomatoes and peppers after we pooled our money. It was very busy in the marketplace. Young boys made money by walking around and selling plastic bags to people.
Lab last week seemed a bit more difficult and tiresome, especially after my partner Allie and I soldered one of our components too close to another on our power supply. After much time spent de-soldering the component, we were able to finish the next day and place the heat sink on easily. On Friday, we were at Mt. Meru hospital again. Collyn and I were able to fix the plug on our broken suction pump fairly quickly by getting a new fuse and wrapping a stranded wire around it to help increase the amperage rating. Once we put the new fuse in the plug, the machine started and ran nicely. We returned it to the maternity ward for use on the floor. After we finished, there weren't too many new projects to start working on, so I hopped around from group to group looking at their projects. Some people were fixing a cart, some space heaters, and one group even got an electro surgical tool running.
Our room at the hotel
After working in the hospital all day, some of the group ventured into Arusha. We went to a cultural crafts market where we were crowded and pressured to buy anything and everything under the sun. We all got out okay eventually, but it was quite the experience. Going home, I had my first experience riding on a "dala dala" which is a van that drives up and down the main highway picking people up. They usually pack them very tight especially during rush hours, cramming up to 25 people sometimes!
Lake Manyara
Ngorongoro Crater
This weekend our group went on safari to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro crater. The parks were amazing, and my photos do not do the beauty of the landscape and the animals justice. We started out bright and early on Saturday morning on the long drive to Lake Manyara. We saw many baboons there and some giraffe too. That night we stayed at one of the fanciest hotels I've ever been to and were waited on graciously the whole stay. We went swimming in their pool, and they made us some bonfires and fruity gin drinks. The dinner was delicious, and I definitely ate too much. It was nice to just relax for the evening and get to talk with all of the other students.
The next day, we woke up at 5 AM before the sun rose to get an early start at the crater. We got ready as fast as possible and headed out right away. When we got to the crater, there was some trouble getting in and our car impatiently waited as Amy and the drivers sorted out the paperwork. When we finally went in, it took almost 45 minutes just to drive up the mountainside. It was covered in fog in the morning, so we couldn't see anything for the longest time. When the sun finally came out, we had reached the top, and the view was gorgeous. We could see out across the whole crater. I've decided I'm going to buy a safari car to travel the world in because you can see everything from all angles. It's an amazing feeling to stand and feel the wind the wind while descending into Ngorongoro crater. It was colder than I expected it to be even as we drove down into the crater, and I put most of my layers on until we left. The day was filled with vast savannas and animal sightings of all kinds. My favorite were the elephants who came right up to the cars. Many of the animals even seemed to pose for us. We also got to see lions napping in the sun, along with herds of wildebeest, impala, zebras, warthogs, and many others.
Driving down into the crater
At the end of the day we stopped at a Maasai village, where they greeted us with singing and their traditional dancing/jumping. One at a time they pulled us in to join them. They told us about their culture. Most Maasai men take more than one wife. Each wife builds a separate house out of mud and sticks. After a long drive back, we finally arrived back at our homestay, ate, and went to bed. The weekend was exhausting, but well worth the trip.
Our class is getting better and better at speaking Swahili, and this past week we went on a field trip to the market. We prepared by learning a lot of vocab and phrases about fruits and vegetables, and bargaining. Unlike in America, where everything has a fixed price, there are many markets where you can bargain to get a better deal. Another cultural difference I've noticed is that many people assume you have a lot of money if you are white and may try to sell their products at a higher price to you. The school gave us each 2000 Tanzanian shillings (which is equivalent to about $1 USD), and we were asked to get as many fruits and vegetables as we could. My roommate and I walked away with a pineapple, four limes, green beans, and many tomatoes and peppers after we pooled our money. It was very busy in the marketplace. Young boys made money by walking around and selling plastic bags to people.
No comments:
Post a Comment