Cooking With Mama Maggie
February 7, 2013
Welcome one an all to the ultimate culinary experience. Mama Maggie, your host, will be here shortly. Please remember to greet her with the customary yell, "Ahhhheyeeeyeeeyeeee!!!" Again we will be doing an introductory course on how to make chapati, so please pay special attention to the ingredients and methods she uses. Today we will be working with flour, salt, and hot water (Mama Maggie's favorite). (more...)
tags: Culture, Education
location: Arusha, Arusha, Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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It Takes a Village to Raise a Sarah
February 7, 2013
During the three night home stay with the Maasai, I had a very unique experience, not only did I get to participate in the daily routine of a Maasai women, I also had a few unexpected surprises as well. My home stay started out just like all the others, the "mamas" came to pick us up from campsite singing together as the group lined up in front of them holding walking sticks waiting to be chosen. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture, Gender
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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The Race
February 7, 2013
The race began without a moments delay; no sooner did the official’s final words slip off the tip of his tongue, the racers shot out of the gate. Nobody looked back to see who they were beating, the only thing on their minds was getting to that finish line as fast as possible. No obstacle was too big to achieve the ultimate goal of finding their way home.
On October 2nd the group had the privilege to see Green Sea Turtles hatch at Friends of Maziwe on the coast of Pemba Abwe. (more...)
tags: Environment, Education
location: Itanderu, Tanga, Tanzania, Tanga, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Boma
January 25, 2013
The inside of my home in Maasai country was always filled with smoke. My host mother tinkered away most of the days in one dark corner cleaning mugs and bowls, making jewelry, and feeding her child, often all at once. The calf slept next to my bed and mooed only occasionally and in a soft way. (more...)
tags: Culture
location: ![]()
Sunday
January 25, 2013
At a pub in Nairobi city center, a midday football game was yet to start. The regulars sat on the balcony overlooking the chaotic scramblings of matatu buses and their passengers. (more...)
tags: Culture
location: Pangani, Nairobi![]()
Boat to Pembe
November 29, 2012
I was awoken to the sound of the woman next to me violently puking into a black bag labeled “sick bag” in bold white letters. I look over at her and she places her toddler on my lap as she rummages through her luggage for something to drink. The puking is routine and no one reacts to it, not even her husband, who continues to look straight ahead. The seats are cramped and the cabin of the boat is full of people. (more...)
tags: History
location: Zanzibar North, TZ, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Kangas
November 25, 2012
Kangas are multi-purpose rectangular pieces of fabric that are very popular in East Africa. They have different colors and designs and always include a religious phrase on the bottom. (more...)
tags: Culture
location: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Kenya
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Eastern Hospitality
November 22, 2012
Eastern HospitalityOne of our final assignments on the trip was a survey based research project in the small village of Olasiti near Arusha. We each picked our topic of interest, were paired up with our translators, and before we knew it were writing a questionnaire. Days rushed by as we preformed background research and prepared our study for its impending implementation. Time slowed down, as it always has, when we finally reached our home stay. (more...)
tags: Culture, Environment
location: Arusha, Arusha, Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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My host family in Olasiti
November 22, 2012
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tags: Culture, Environment
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Mama Kasanga
November 21, 2012
“Unasikia njaa?” asks Mama Kasanga, as she does every time we begin preparing a meal, as if ascertaining my level of hunger will determine the speed at which she turns the ugali. “Kidogo”, I respond, as I do every time she asks me. It’s the only acceptable answer. I really feel no hunger at all since at every meal time I am forced to sit at the table until I consume a large mass of food, much like a stubborn child told to finish her peas. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture, Gender
location: Rift Valley, Kenya, Kenya
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Capturing Images
November 19, 2012
It was assumed before this trip even began that we'd all bring cameras—not required of course, but understood. Cataloging life with images has become such an important part of my generation's social dynamic that it goes without saying: You're going to Africa?! Take lots of pictures! We digest images like no others before us. This very blog assignment was very much a photography assignment. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture
location: Pemba North, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Instructions on making a Hadza arrow
November 18, 2012
Instructions on making a Hadza arrow:
Step 1: Procure very straight Acacia branch of the correct thickness, should be approximately ½ cm in diameter and ¾ m long.
Step 2: Insert stick into fire until blackened on one side. Make sure to repeatedly move your stick under other sticks in order to block others’ from blackening properly.
Step 3: Flip stick over to blacken other side. (more...)
tags: Culture
location: Isinya, Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley, Kenya, Kenya
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Maziwe
November 18, 2012
On our last day in Pembe Abwe, we got the opportunity to teach some Swahili students how to snorkel. We got a group of twenty, eleven and twelve year-old Swahili students and none of them knew how to swim! These kids are Muslim, so the girls swam in long leggings or long skirts and shirts. After they changed into their swimming clothes, they were very giggly, shy, and obviously uncomfortable to have their arms and heads showing in front of all of us and the boys. (more...)
tags: Culture, Environment, Gender, Religion, Education
location: Tanga, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Poached Giraffe
November 18, 2012
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tags: Culture, Environment
location: Manyara, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Cat Tale
November 18, 2012
I find my father situated on his mat outside the complex late at night motioning me to sit. “Kulala, kulala.” I tell him, as a couple of neighborhood boys mock my drowsy voice by the Bungo tree. But I sit anyway, mentally preparing myself for another night of comical interactions using Swahili. I flop down next to my sassy mother and her cat. She laughs while running her mouth off as I stare at her with a dumbfound expression. “Unajua?” she asks. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture
location: Pemba North, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Pemba Rainforest
November 18, 2012
In September, we visited Ndege Forest, which is the last natural preservation on Pemba. Although Pemba is considered to be relatively untouched by Westernization, the entire island has still been developed into towns and farmland. Ndege Forest is a rainforest and full of an abundance of organisms. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and he told us about all of the different indigenous and invasive plants and trees. A lot of the trees bear fruit. (more...)
tags: Culture, Environment
location: Central, Kenya, Kenya
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Maggie
November 7, 2012
Mama Maggie: Mother, wife, guide, chef to presidents, bushwoman, caregiver, friend.
tags: Culture, Gender
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Lengai Volcano
November 6, 2012
It is midnight and I am awoken by the sound of my friend unzipping my tent.
“Wake up!” she says, “It is time to go.”
I stretch and wiggle out of my sleeping bag, I feel surprisingly rested for the three hours of sleep I got, but I am still a little nauseous from the homestay with the Maasai that ended yesterday. (more...)
tags: Environment
location: Gelai Meru-Goi, Arusha, Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Acting out animals
November 4, 2012
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tags: Language, Culture
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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African women are my heros
November 3, 2012
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tags: Culture, Gender
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Gender Roles
November 3, 2012
Life of a Maasai man is tough stuff. You have the important responsibility of feeding the family by ensuring that the cattle are properly herded, fed, and taken care of. Often, with only one morning meal in your belly, you have to walk long distances without water from sunup till sundown. In the dry season, you may even have to migrate your entire herd and form temporary bomas away from your family in your search for water and grazing areas. (more...)
tags: Culture, Gender
location: Manyara, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Q&A with the Hadza
October 25, 2012
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tags: Culture
location: Dodoma, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Hope
October 25, 2012
Hope: Tanzanian, fierce office manager, wife, guide, teacher, friend.
tags: Culture, Gender
location: Singida, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Baboons
October 19, 2012
The Land Rover creeps along, patiently following a harem of impala on their journey to the watering hole. One male, his horns distinguishing him from the swarm of white backsides painted with two vertical black stripes, confidently guides his females to sip and relax by the cool, refreshing spring. (more...)
tags: Environment
location: Manyara, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Night Noises
October 17, 2012
Rustling in the grass. Rustling in the trees. Rustling outside the small strip of fabric separating me from the night alive with noises. Everything is a snake in the grass, a leopard crouching between the limbs above my head. Hyenas cackle and move between the tents, asking me to join them in their celebration––laughing tricksters. Birds call, singing to one another, serenading the cicadas who their return. (more...)
tags: Environment
location: Arusha, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Reactions to Covering in Zanzibar and Pemba
September 24, 2012
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tags: Culture, Gender, Religion
location: Zanzibar South and Central, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Two Men, One Bed
September 24, 2012
I was thrown a curve ball on the first night of my home stay in the coastal town of Msuku, Pemba. As I was given the tour, of course I had noticed that there was only one bed in the room where my home stay brother, Rahim, and I were sleeping. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. That night I learned the small bed composed of a wooden frame and string woven body was indeed meant for two. (more...)
tags: Culture, Environment
location: Konde, Pemba North, Tanzania, Pemba North, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Msuka
September 24, 2012
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tags: Culture
location: Chake Chake, Pemba South, Tanzania, Pemba South, Tanzania, Tanzania
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Chakula, or Swahili for Food
September 9, 2012
The best part of exploring a new culture is learning about the food. What people eat and how they make it consumes me. Prior to leaving Portland, more than a few people asked, "What kind of food do they eat?" I had some assumptions, for sure, (heavy on the starches and meat), but I had no idea what to really expect. I was certainly looking forward to finding out.
Well, I was not disappointed on so many levels. My photos often consist of the foods I've enjoyed eating and making. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture, Gender
location: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Kenya
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Escarpment into Rift Valley
September 5, 2012
We love LC! Our first excursion in Kenya, we traveled to Nakuru from Nairobi. On the way, we stopped in the hills overlooking the Rift Valley at a roadside curio stand. It was also our first experience with the Kenyan grilled corn.
tags: Environment, History
location: Uplands, Central, Kenya, Central, Kenya, Kenya
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Gikomba
August 29, 2012
The “Industrial Sector”, or Gikomba, is basically a very large market and workplace in Nairobi. It is also quite the sensory experience. It was really loud and incredibly packed full of pretty much everything. Not only were items being sold, but they were also being made. Trunks were being spray painted for students to take to university, metal was being cut down to be used elsewhere, and wheelbarrows were being bolted together. (more...)
tags: Language, Culture, Environment
location: Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Nairobi Area, Kenya, Kenya
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