Monday, July 28, 2008
Usambara Mountains
I was only able to get the ones from Irente Viewpoint uploaded - will try the rest later.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, 27 July 2008
After a bumpy 6 hour bus ride we are back in Moshi! We had such a fantastic time - it was beautiful there! We saw amazing views, hiked through a rainforest, tired the local sugar cane brew at a very local pub, and had some intresting food. Within the next couple of days I will post some pictures and fill you in on the details.
Also, if anyone is looking for a good book to read, I have a recommendation - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. An absolutely amazing book that I can't put down!
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
Also, if anyone is looking for a good book to read, I have a recommendation - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. An absolutely amazing book that I can't put down!
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, 24 July 2008
It's been a good week minus all the rain that we have had. Makes getting to projects a little difficult - also trying to line dry clothes difficult.
Heading out tomorrow for a little weekend trip to the Usambara Mountain region with some friends. Should be a nice time - hopefully the weather will clear up.
I should have some good photos to post next week!
Heading out tomorrow for a little weekend trip to the Usambara Mountain region with some friends. Should be a nice time - hopefully the weather will clear up.
I should have some good photos to post next week!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Pictures
I have photos!!!
So, we have had a couple of meetings on the school but not any new news. The teachers are still trying to communicate with the owner of the land. Apparently, he will be here or his son by Thursday so we can discuss all the legal issues and money required for the school to acquire the land. Business here in Moshi is not what I'm use to. Things work a little slower and we keep meeting with out any new news - at least we are moving in the right direction.
So, we have had a couple of meetings on the school but not any new news. The teachers are still trying to communicate with the owner of the land. Apparently, he will be here or his son by Thursday so we can discuss all the legal issues and money required for the school to acquire the land. Business here in Moshi is not what I'm use to. Things work a little slower and we keep meeting with out any new news - at least we are moving in the right direction.
Photos from our hike to the waterfalls...
Below is a photo from the outside of our classroom.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Jambo!
So...it doesn't look like it's as simple as just building two walls and a roof. Apparently, before we showed up the municipal board came to the school and told them that it was not sutiable as a permanent facility - but would pass as a temporary facility. The nursery is right off of a busy road, there is no yard for the children to play in (there is actually no where for them to play) and the toilet facilities are across the way not even next to the school (if you can call them toilet facilities - no running water). So to finish the classroom would pretty much be a waste. The city has suggested a plot of land for the school to move to. Yesterday we went to visit the piece of land, we met with the builder and we had a translator from our organization to help us. The teachers are suppose to talk to the owner of the land to get more information and we are hopefully going to get some budget numbers from the builder for when we all meet again on Monday. It's something we are wanting to help them with - just not sure at the moment how much involvement that means. Will keep you posted. I took some pictures of the school yesterday so I will work on getting them dowloaded - everything is just soooo sloooooow here in Tanzania.
As far as everything else, it's pretty much the same - I have really gotten into my routine. We wake up, walk the hour or more to our morning project, teach for a couple of hours, walk back to town, have lunch and hang out a little bit, then walk to my women's group in the afternoon and then walk home. I have decided not to help out with soccer just yet and focus on the women's group - I'm using the time that would be spent with soccer doing lesson plans. It's really been quite an experience getting to know the area and getting to know the people! Everyone is just amazing and the children are so full of energy!
Hope everyone is doing well!
So...it doesn't look like it's as simple as just building two walls and a roof. Apparently, before we showed up the municipal board came to the school and told them that it was not sutiable as a permanent facility - but would pass as a temporary facility. The nursery is right off of a busy road, there is no yard for the children to play in (there is actually no where for them to play) and the toilet facilities are across the way not even next to the school (if you can call them toilet facilities - no running water). So to finish the classroom would pretty much be a waste. The city has suggested a plot of land for the school to move to. Yesterday we went to visit the piece of land, we met with the builder and we had a translator from our organization to help us. The teachers are suppose to talk to the owner of the land to get more information and we are hopefully going to get some budget numbers from the builder for when we all meet again on Monday. It's something we are wanting to help them with - just not sure at the moment how much involvement that means. Will keep you posted. I took some pictures of the school yesterday so I will work on getting them dowloaded - everything is just soooo sloooooow here in Tanzania.
As far as everything else, it's pretty much the same - I have really gotten into my routine. We wake up, walk the hour or more to our morning project, teach for a couple of hours, walk back to town, have lunch and hang out a little bit, then walk to my women's group in the afternoon and then walk home. I have decided not to help out with soccer just yet and focus on the women's group - I'm using the time that would be spent with soccer doing lesson plans. It's really been quite an experience getting to know the area and getting to know the people! Everyone is just amazing and the children are so full of energy!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tuesday, 15th June 2008
This morning it was raining - needless to say my shoes and my pants are now covered in mud. Very few streets are actually paved around here so it was pretty much like walking around in a big mud pile on our way to class.
So the exciting news is tomorrow we are meeting with the teachers from our school, one of the leaders from Arts in Tanzania (the organization that I am volunteering with) and the builder. Looks like we will be building a classroom! I'm hoping tomorrow I can take some pictures of there current classroom. Just not quite ready to take my camera out around the children as I know they will go crazy about it ;). Some people have commented and I have received emails from people interested in helping out financially on this - Thank you! Let me find out what is going to cost and where we are at - many of the volunteers raised money before they left and wanted to contribute to our project as well. I will keep you updated. It will be an exciting project while I am here!
Well, I am off to my second day with the women's group!
So the exciting news is tomorrow we are meeting with the teachers from our school, one of the leaders from Arts in Tanzania (the organization that I am volunteering with) and the builder. Looks like we will be building a classroom! I'm hoping tomorrow I can take some pictures of there current classroom. Just not quite ready to take my camera out around the children as I know they will go crazy about it ;). Some people have commented and I have received emails from people interested in helping out financially on this - Thank you! Let me find out what is going to cost and where we are at - many of the volunteers raised money before they left and wanted to contribute to our project as well. I will keep you updated. It will be an exciting project while I am here!
Well, I am off to my second day with the women's group!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday, 14 July 2008
It's been one month today since I left NYC!
Things are going really well here. I am pretty much settled into my routine now - but will definitely be a pro at all of this by the end of the week!
On Saturday a group of us went to Arusha. Arusha is much more of a city than Moshi is - but similar still in many ways. We weren't there to long - some of the girls looked into Safaris, we then ate lunch at a local Afican restaurant and then went to the market. The real adventure was getting to and from Arusha. We took the dahla dahla (van/bus). The area in Moshi that we live is in Soweto, so we caught to dahla dahla off of the highway there in Soweto. One dahla dahla pulled up and then quickly a second one right in front of it. they got out and started grabbing at us to get into there dahla dahla and then they started fighting each other - it was craziness - but somehow this is all very common. They are all very nice but when you have 11 girls standing at the highway that are obviously not from Tanzania it means money for them. They also cram you in there like sardines - luckily though there was no chickens or goats in with us this time - I hear this is very common as well. It's terribly uncomfortable - but exciting and fun at the same time ;). It's an hour and a half ride to Arusha! I even have a few bruises on my leg from a suitcase that was right in front of and probably one on my back from being crammed into what they call a seat with my friend Erin. We were just cracking up the whole time.
All classes went well. It was a busy day as it was my first class on my own with the women's group and my last Swahili class!
All classes went well. It was a busy day as it was my first class on my own with the women's group and my last Swahili class!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The First Week - 09 July 2008
All I can say is that it is unbelievable here!
My class is fantastic! I believe the kids are around 6 years old and there is 30 of them. At the school there are 2 other classes as well. The other 2 actually have classrooms - ours is just a room with a corrugated tin roof and partial walls made out of tin and wood. The kids have benches and larger benches act as their desks. We are going to look into what it would cost to turn it in to a proper classroom. There is already 2 walls and a floor - so it may not be that difficult. The children love the volunteers, I teach with another girl and they can't take their hands off of us. They are always touching our hair and wanting to hold our hands. Today we did writing and yesterday was drawing and at the end of each class we sing songs - they love it! Then we start our journey back into town and the kids walk with us as far as they can. Today though we had some extra kids join us about 5 minutes or so into our walk - these two little boys. They followed us all the way into Moshi - about a 45 minute walk - we kept trying to say good bye but they kept following. Finally, someone on the street helped us to talk to them in Swahili and they said they didn't know where they were going. I think they were hoping we would have chocolate ;). So he gave them money to take the bus back home.
I also will start another project next week. It is a women's group and I will be working with them on their English. There is about 5 of them and they each have a small business that they run and they want to improve their English. Yesterday I went to observe and next week I will take over the class. They seem like an incredible group of women. I will also start soccer next week as well - when I finish my Swahili classes!
This weekend I may go into Arusha, another city near by, or on a hike to the waterfalls.
It's fantastic here and has been so incredible. I'm just not quite use to the cold shower yet though!
Kwaheri! (good-bye in Swahili)
I hope to be able to have pictures to post soon to share with you all.
My class is fantastic! I believe the kids are around 6 years old and there is 30 of them. At the school there are 2 other classes as well. The other 2 actually have classrooms - ours is just a room with a corrugated tin roof and partial walls made out of tin and wood. The kids have benches and larger benches act as their desks. We are going to look into what it would cost to turn it in to a proper classroom. There is already 2 walls and a floor - so it may not be that difficult. The children love the volunteers, I teach with another girl and they can't take their hands off of us. They are always touching our hair and wanting to hold our hands. Today we did writing and yesterday was drawing and at the end of each class we sing songs - they love it! Then we start our journey back into town and the kids walk with us as far as they can. Today though we had some extra kids join us about 5 minutes or so into our walk - these two little boys. They followed us all the way into Moshi - about a 45 minute walk - we kept trying to say good bye but they kept following. Finally, someone on the street helped us to talk to them in Swahili and they said they didn't know where they were going. I think they were hoping we would have chocolate ;). So he gave them money to take the bus back home.
I also will start another project next week. It is a women's group and I will be working with them on their English. There is about 5 of them and they each have a small business that they run and they want to improve their English. Yesterday I went to observe and next week I will take over the class. They seem like an incredible group of women. I will also start soccer next week as well - when I finish my Swahili classes!
This weekend I may go into Arusha, another city near by, or on a hike to the waterfalls.
It's fantastic here and has been so incredible. I'm just not quite use to the cold shower yet though!
Kwaheri! (good-bye in Swahili)
I hope to be able to have pictures to post soon to share with you all.
Monday, July 7, 2008
I'm here!
After a long journey - I'm here. And it's absolutely incredible, and quite an incredible journey. Today is Farmers Holiday so we will not start classes till tomorrow. I am working with the nursery in the morning and will be coaching soccer in the afternoon!
Yesterday we had orientation and today we went swimming - It's warm here! I was so glad to finally be out in the sun and in the water. I was worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy the summer.
There are about 50 volunteers here! - we have a full house. Everyone is great, the volunteers and the staff. I think I am the oldest of the volunteers. They are all about to start college, in college or just finished.
A funny story on my travel here...
I don't know if I have mentioned before but there are tons of Americans here in Africa. And I kept thinking I want to be somewhere where there are no Americans - and my wish came true. My flight from Jo'burg to Tanzania had an overnight in Ethiopia. I assumed that I was either going to have to be responsible for my own hotel or I was going to be sleeping in the airport. They ended up putting us in a hotel and shuttled us in buses. I was the only American - I think everyone else was from somewhere in Africa. Everyone was really friendly though, it was just odd being shuttled to a hotel and not really knowing what was going on. When we arrived we were told to take our luggage upstairs and then come for dinner. I was at a point where I was not thinking on my own and did as I was told. I came down and ate the worst food only to look at my watch to realize it was midnight! During diner we were watching the news cast and they were broadcasting on Americans celebrating Independence Day. Only what they were showing was the hot dog eating contest and interviewing Americans to see if they really know the history (I don't think they were interviewing the brightest of the bunch). Everyone was giggling. I just bowed my head and finished dinner - why couldn't they have just shown a nice parade or fireworks?!?
More soon.
Yesterday we had orientation and today we went swimming - It's warm here! I was so glad to finally be out in the sun and in the water. I was worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy the summer.
There are about 50 volunteers here! - we have a full house. Everyone is great, the volunteers and the staff. I think I am the oldest of the volunteers. They are all about to start college, in college or just finished.
A funny story on my travel here...
I don't know if I have mentioned before but there are tons of Americans here in Africa. And I kept thinking I want to be somewhere where there are no Americans - and my wish came true. My flight from Jo'burg to Tanzania had an overnight in Ethiopia. I assumed that I was either going to have to be responsible for my own hotel or I was going to be sleeping in the airport. They ended up putting us in a hotel and shuttled us in buses. I was the only American - I think everyone else was from somewhere in Africa. Everyone was really friendly though, it was just odd being shuttled to a hotel and not really knowing what was going on. When we arrived we were told to take our luggage upstairs and then come for dinner. I was at a point where I was not thinking on my own and did as I was told. I came down and ate the worst food only to look at my watch to realize it was midnight! During diner we were watching the news cast and they were broadcasting on Americans celebrating Independence Day. Only what they were showing was the hot dog eating contest and interviewing Americans to see if they really know the history (I don't think they were interviewing the brightest of the bunch). Everyone was giggling. I just bowed my head and finished dinner - why couldn't they have just shown a nice parade or fireworks?!?
More soon.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy 4th!
Well, it's time to begin the next phase of the journey. I am here at the Johannesburg airport now waiting for my flight to Ethiopia! - and then tomorrow morning I will board another plane to Kilimanjaro.
Not sure how my internet access will be for the next few days so it may be awhile before I post again - or maybe not.
Wishing you all a wonderful 4th!
Not sure how my internet access will be for the next few days so it may be awhile before I post again - or maybe not.
Wishing you all a wonderful 4th!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Winelands
So now for the Winelands and our stay in Stellenbosh.
The backpackers that we stayed at was called Stumble Inn (kind of cute). And there was a full house there - however, they had a second house and that's where the put us. So again we were the only ones.
When we arrived we had dinner and they told us about the wine tour the next day and we decided to join in! The plus side - I wasn't going to have to drive and could enjoy the wine ;)
Although the day is somewhat of a blur ;) I will do my best to recap. We met up with the group at about 10:30, by 11 we were sipping champagne.
It was a really good deal considering it was 300 rand which is equivalent to 39 usd. The tour included 4 wineries and lunch. We sampled about 5 wines at each winery - you can see why the day became a blur. It was also our tour guys last tour so we added a fifth winery onto the day! There are about 160 wineries in Stellenbosh, the area is absolutely gorgeous and the wines are fantastic. And don't worry we already arranged for some to be sent back to NYC!
After the wine tour our guide joined us for dinner and we tried Ostrich! As many of you know I am a vegetarian that eats seafood - and also a vegetarian that will try anything while traveling (and even when not). The ostrich was actually really good!
At one point we decided to stay one more day in Stellenbosch, but the next morning with a slight headache we decided we were ready to move on. We did manage to make a stop at one more winery - one of the oldest in Franschhoek, Boschendal. Franschhoek is another popular town in the Winelands - there is a few of them.
Once back in Cape Town we had our last dinner before Angela would fly out the next day. By recommendation we headed to Mama Africa. Fantastic dinner, fantastic environment and fantastic live music. And we tried crocodile! http://www.mamaafricarest.net/
That's it - I'm caught up!
The backpackers that we stayed at was called Stumble Inn (kind of cute). And there was a full house there - however, they had a second house and that's where the put us. So again we were the only ones.
When we arrived we had dinner and they told us about the wine tour the next day and we decided to join in! The plus side - I wasn't going to have to drive and could enjoy the wine ;)
Although the day is somewhat of a blur ;) I will do my best to recap. We met up with the group at about 10:30, by 11 we were sipping champagne.
It was a really good deal considering it was 300 rand which is equivalent to 39 usd. The tour included 4 wineries and lunch. We sampled about 5 wines at each winery - you can see why the day became a blur. It was also our tour guys last tour so we added a fifth winery onto the day! There are about 160 wineries in Stellenbosh, the area is absolutely gorgeous and the wines are fantastic. And don't worry we already arranged for some to be sent back to NYC!
After the wine tour our guide joined us for dinner and we tried Ostrich! As many of you know I am a vegetarian that eats seafood - and also a vegetarian that will try anything while traveling (and even when not). The ostrich was actually really good!
At one point we decided to stay one more day in Stellenbosch, but the next morning with a slight headache we decided we were ready to move on. We did manage to make a stop at one more winery - one of the oldest in Franschhoek, Boschendal. Franschhoek is another popular town in the Winelands - there is a few of them.
Once back in Cape Town we had our last dinner before Angela would fly out the next day. By recommendation we headed to Mama Africa. Fantastic dinner, fantastic environment and fantastic live music. And we tried crocodile! http://www.mamaafricarest.net/
That's it - I'm caught up!
A Guessing Game
Can you guess who this guys closest relative is in the animal kingdom???
An elephant!
I know - I don't believe it myself.
An elephant!
I know - I don't believe it myself.
The Timeline
At request, here is a little more detail of exactly where I will be when...
Right now I'm in Cape Town. Working on my online English courses, visiting museums, etc., etc. I depart on Friday morning at 7 am and have a terribly long journey ahead of me. I fly into Johannesburg and then once there I have a few hours before my flight to Tanzania. The flight to Tanzania has a lay over in Ethiopia so I will not end up arriving in Tanzania till Saturday afternoon! I will then be in Moshi, Tanzania till August 30th. Hopefully I will be able to fit in some weekend trips to Zanzibar, etc.
I fly back to Johannesburg on the 30th, again another long flight not actually arriving till the 31st. I will stay that night in Johannesburg and then back on the plane where I will fly to Swaziland on the 1st of September. The first day there is an orientation and then we will venture to Kruger National Park for a five day tour with 4 nights of camping in the Park. Hopefully with spending 5 days there I will be able to view "The Big 5" (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard). We then head back into Swaziland and work on a community project in Ezulwini, Swaziland. We will be working with one or a number of small care centers in the area that are assisting children. We may be painting, planting trees, installing a water system or teaching and playing with the children. After the 15 days or so there we will then be spending the next 5 days in Tofo Bay and Inahmbane Bay in Mozambique. Learning about beach life and snorkeling with whale sharks. Not quite sure what the weather will be like , but regardless it will definitely be a nice way to the end my time here in Africa. Then on the 29th of September I will fly out of Swaziland and back to Johannesburg and will begin my journey home!
Right now I'm in Cape Town. Working on my online English courses, visiting museums, etc., etc. I depart on Friday morning at 7 am and have a terribly long journey ahead of me. I fly into Johannesburg and then once there I have a few hours before my flight to Tanzania. The flight to Tanzania has a lay over in Ethiopia so I will not end up arriving in Tanzania till Saturday afternoon! I will then be in Moshi, Tanzania till August 30th. Hopefully I will be able to fit in some weekend trips to Zanzibar, etc.
I fly back to Johannesburg on the 30th, again another long flight not actually arriving till the 31st. I will stay that night in Johannesburg and then back on the plane where I will fly to Swaziland on the 1st of September. The first day there is an orientation and then we will venture to Kruger National Park for a five day tour with 4 nights of camping in the Park. Hopefully with spending 5 days there I will be able to view "The Big 5" (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard). We then head back into Swaziland and work on a community project in Ezulwini, Swaziland. We will be working with one or a number of small care centers in the area that are assisting children. We may be painting, planting trees, installing a water system or teaching and playing with the children. After the 15 days or so there we will then be spending the next 5 days in Tofo Bay and Inahmbane Bay in Mozambique. Learning about beach life and snorkeling with whale sharks. Not quite sure what the weather will be like , but regardless it will definitely be a nice way to the end my time here in Africa. Then on the 29th of September I will fly out of Swaziland and back to Johannesburg and will begin my journey home!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Catching up - Tuesday, June 24th and Wednesday June 25th
Four posts in one day. I don't think you will see this happen again.
I'm having to remember back now...you wouldn't think one week would be difficult - but so much has happened since then.
Tuesday morning we decided we were going to head back the direction we were hoping to cover on our route to Muizenberg. Our first stop was Boulders Beach in Simons Town where we spent the morning with the African Penguins.
these two are mating (you probably could have figured that out yourself though)...
After lunch we headed down the Cape Peninsula - the most south-western tip of Africa and into Table Mountain National Park. The views were breathtaking.
There were signs everywhere that read "DO NOT FEED THE BABOONS. THEY ARE DANGEROUS" - but we couldn't figure out where these baboons were. Then we saw one.
Then around the corner up on the hill we spotted an ostrich. I think we did fairly well on the wildlife side to see penguins, a baboon and an ostrich all in the same day.
We then went to the Cape of Good Hope in the park and took lots of photos.
With the sun starting to set we knew we had to hurry on to get to a place to sleep. Our original plan was to make it to Hermanus. We started flipping through our Coast to Coast book looking for a place and ended up in Betty's Bay - which was closer than driving to Hermanus. It got dark quick. One road in particular was the most amazing drive. It was pitch black, freshly paved, and an extremely winding road. I felt like a race car driver - only I was going 35 mph and not 135. I didn't blink once. We were sure it was probably a gorgeous drive but we couldn't see a thing. Then we arrived to the small town of Betty's Bay and found the backpackers we were staying at. Again, we were the only guests. The stars were incredible - I have never seen so many in my life! Once we got our bags in we set out to have dinner at the only restaurant in town - Camelot. What we would have assumed was going to be a simple dinner and probably not that good, caught us pleasantly surprised. Angela and I both agree that may have been our best dinner on the trip.
Up early the next morning and on the road again. We arrived in Hermanus and went straight to the visitors center to get the scope on the area and the best spots to see whales. We were advised to take the cliff walk and because July is the mating season we were sure to see some whales. But no such luck - we may have seen the back of a whale but we can't be sure. However, it was a beautiful walk. We then drove to the beach, relaxed in the sun and put our toes in the water.
With the sun about to set soon we knew we wanted to get back on the road quickly. We were going to take the same winding road back towards Stellenbosch and this time we wanted to be able to see it. Let me say that words can't describe it. I think at first we were stopping at every possible moment to take photos. The mountains on one side of the road and the ocean on the other. I think I was more nervous driving on the road now that I could see it. It is by far the most beautiful drive I have ever taken.
Tomorrow...Stellenbosch and the wineries (that one will probably be more difficult to remember).
I'm having to remember back now...you wouldn't think one week would be difficult - but so much has happened since then.
Tuesday morning we decided we were going to head back the direction we were hoping to cover on our route to Muizenberg. Our first stop was Boulders Beach in Simons Town where we spent the morning with the African Penguins.
these two are mating (you probably could have figured that out yourself though)...
After lunch we headed down the Cape Peninsula - the most south-western tip of Africa and into Table Mountain National Park. The views were breathtaking.
There were signs everywhere that read "DO NOT FEED THE BABOONS. THEY ARE DANGEROUS" - but we couldn't figure out where these baboons were. Then we saw one.
Then around the corner up on the hill we spotted an ostrich. I think we did fairly well on the wildlife side to see penguins, a baboon and an ostrich all in the same day.
We then went to the Cape of Good Hope in the park and took lots of photos.
With the sun starting to set we knew we had to hurry on to get to a place to sleep. Our original plan was to make it to Hermanus. We started flipping through our Coast to Coast book looking for a place and ended up in Betty's Bay - which was closer than driving to Hermanus. It got dark quick. One road in particular was the most amazing drive. It was pitch black, freshly paved, and an extremely winding road. I felt like a race car driver - only I was going 35 mph and not 135. I didn't blink once. We were sure it was probably a gorgeous drive but we couldn't see a thing. Then we arrived to the small town of Betty's Bay and found the backpackers we were staying at. Again, we were the only guests. The stars were incredible - I have never seen so many in my life! Once we got our bags in we set out to have dinner at the only restaurant in town - Camelot. What we would have assumed was going to be a simple dinner and probably not that good, caught us pleasantly surprised. Angela and I both agree that may have been our best dinner on the trip.
Up early the next morning and on the road again. We arrived in Hermanus and went straight to the visitors center to get the scope on the area and the best spots to see whales. We were advised to take the cliff walk and because July is the mating season we were sure to see some whales. But no such luck - we may have seen the back of a whale but we can't be sure. However, it was a beautiful walk. We then drove to the beach, relaxed in the sun and put our toes in the water.
With the sun about to set soon we knew we wanted to get back on the road quickly. We were going to take the same winding road back towards Stellenbosch and this time we wanted to be able to see it. Let me say that words can't describe it. I think at first we were stopping at every possible moment to take photos. The mountains on one side of the road and the ocean on the other. I think I was more nervous driving on the road now that I could see it. It is by far the most beautiful drive I have ever taken.
Tomorrow...Stellenbosch and the wineries (that one will probably be more difficult to remember).
Photos
You will have to let me know if this works or not. Copy the link below into your browser and it should connect you to kodakgallery.com to view the photos thus far - this is just the first two weeks ;)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=tt7e4it.aakrl77x&x=0&y=ne9fcy&localeid=en_US
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=tt7e4it.aakrl77x&x=0&y=ne9fcy&localeid=en_US
Re-assigned
As I mentioned before I was originally assigned for volunteer placement to the Chem Chem nursery. With trying to juggle placements and where the need is they asked if they could re-locate me. I'm still in the same area and still working with the same age group just at a different nursery, Tumaini Nursery - this one seems like it will be more of a challenge as they mention that many of children suffer from abuse. Here is the description that they sent me:
Project Summary
This nursery is situated about a 45 minute walk from the Moshi voluntary house in a large but poor village. The school was founded in 1999 by Olivia the main teacher at the school who set it up to help the children in her local community. The children are aged between 3 and 6 and live in conditions of extreme poverty and often suffer abuse, so volunteers should expect the children to have learning difficulties and problems; despite this the children are very energetic, happy and keen to learn.
There are 200 children attending this school and there is only 1 classroom so the classes are split into morning classes and afternoon classes. Of the 200 children 10 of them are orphans and over half are street children.
Activities
This school has 200 children and only 2 teachers, the children therefore do not receive much individual teaching attention. As they can not afford to pay for another teacher, the school relies on volunteers. You will be teaching English, very basic Math’s, games, songs and nursery rhymes.
Schedule
The morning class is for children aged between 3 and 4 and starts at 8.00am and finishes at 11am. The afternoon class is for children aged 5 to 6, class starts at 12pm and finishes at 2pm.
There is also opportunity for afternoon projects since this one finishes up at 2. Most of these include working with the adults in the community to develop their English and computer skills. What's nice is that with some of these project they may teach me Swahili in return for teaching them English!
Project Summary
This nursery is situated about a 45 minute walk from the Moshi voluntary house in a large but poor village. The school was founded in 1999 by Olivia the main teacher at the school who set it up to help the children in her local community. The children are aged between 3 and 6 and live in conditions of extreme poverty and often suffer abuse, so volunteers should expect the children to have learning difficulties and problems; despite this the children are very energetic, happy and keen to learn.
There are 200 children attending this school and there is only 1 classroom so the classes are split into morning classes and afternoon classes. Of the 200 children 10 of them are orphans and over half are street children.
Activities
This school has 200 children and only 2 teachers, the children therefore do not receive much individual teaching attention. As they can not afford to pay for another teacher, the school relies on volunteers. You will be teaching English, very basic Math’s, games, songs and nursery rhymes.
Schedule
The morning class is for children aged between 3 and 4 and starts at 8.00am and finishes at 11am. The afternoon class is for children aged 5 to 6, class starts at 12pm and finishes at 2pm.
There is also opportunity for afternoon projects since this one finishes up at 2. Most of these include working with the adults in the community to develop their English and computer skills. What's nice is that with some of these project they may teach me Swahili in return for teaching them English!
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