Semester in Africa

My Last Week!

2010-05-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!! I know I've been slacking on my blog! I'm very sorry! Everything is still going very well in Tanzania. I spent the past two weeks on my directed research project. I finally finished the paper on Saturday. It ended up being only 22 pages, which was surprising because I thought it would be more, but I think it turned out well. It's definitely a relief to have it finished!

So tomorrow we have our community presentations. We've been told we could have as many as 100 people come to watch us. I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be cool to get the chance to present all of our findings to the people who really live here, and who are influened by the things we studied.

My individual project went well. I took park in the Wildlife Ecology project on baboons. My study focused on the interactions of adult male and infant olive baboons living in both Lake Manyara National park and in the surrounding villages. After spending eight full days observing the baboons I've definitely learned a lottt about them. It was a very interesting topic for my first real research opportunity, and I had a lot of fun.

We spent most days in Lake Manyara National Park and I have a good story from one of the days there....

This is my 'scary' story...One day we went to the hot springs in the park. The springs area is one place in the park that pepole can get out of their cars to look around and strech out. To see the small streams we had to get out of our car and walk down a bunch of rock stairs. Everyone was at the top of the hill reading about the hot springs, but I couldn't see the sign so I decided to just start walking down the steps. As I walked down the stairs I was focusing on the springs down below because there were bushes around us so I couldn't see much of what was beyond the small streams. When I reached the bottom I was looking down at the water wondering how hot it was and if I should try to touch it (my friend had touched it the day before and said it was really hot, but it didn't burn her). Then after a few seconds I looked up for the first time, and there was a giant, lone buffalo standing less than 50 yards from me just staring at me. Buffalo are the second dangerous animals in Africa (after the hippo) beacuse they are very territorial and get aggressive if anything/one encroaches on their space. So when I saw him I froze, because I know they are not extremely safe to be around. I was only down by myself for a little while and then all my friends came down the steps behind me. I told them to be quiet and nodded toward the buffalo. One of my friends decided to take a couple steps closer....and the buffalo did nottt like that. It lowered its head towards the ground and then threw himself up and forward and started running at us while grunting loudly. Apparently he only took about three steps, and then stopped, but I didn't see that because I had done a complete 180 and SPRINTED up the stairs. I was very scared, but maybeee overreacted a little bit. Everyone else was still standing at the bottom laughing at me because he never came close to us but just made a bluff charge.

I, of course, hear multiple jokes about buffalo daily. Everyone makes fun of me for my reaction, but I was very scared!! I could laugh about it later on but I never went back down the stairs. Needless to say, I do not like buffalo haha. Since then my friends found a tshirt with a giant mean buffalo face on it that says HAVE A NICE DAY!! under it. They made me buy it. Its very funny, and I wear it all the time. So thats my scary story. It really wasn't a big deal at all...so don't worry. Just made for a good story.

So anyway, I can't beleive I'm leaving in 5 days. I'm sad to leave, but also excited to see everyone at home. My mom and I will be in London and Paris from the 8th-14th, and then after than I'm going to Barcelona until the 23rd to stay with my two best guy friends from school Tommy and Brian. Tommy has been studying in Barcelona all semester, and Brian has been in London. I'm very excited to see some of Europe. Magz has been planning out our schedule and I think we will get to see a lot. I will write another post before I leave, and then probably one last one about Europe.

Hope all is well at home. SEE EVERYONE SOON : )

DR Pictures

2010-05-02T23:40:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of the forests of Lake Manyara National Park. Some parts of the park are very dense and feel like a rainforest. This is where we observed the majority of baboon troops we saw for DR data collection. We never saw any predators here but it was one of my favorite parks because it was so pretty. There were a lot of sections that were very open and dry and African like, but the extra foresty parts were really cool.

This is Lake Manyara National Park's Serena hotel. Every park we have been to has had a Serena hotel. We've been to the Amboseli, Tsavo, Serengeti, and Lake Manyara Serenas. These are the lodges we go to for lunch buffets, drinks and swimming. This hotel was definitely the prettiest. In the background you can see Lake Manyara National Park. The dark green is the park forest and then the blue and light green is Lake Manyara. The edge of the pool is just at the top of the Manyara escarpment, so its a beautiful view looking out over the park. Inside the lodge is also gorgeous. Living in Africa for three months has made us all really, reallly appreciate the good food and elegant atmosphere the lodges provide. They are always a really nice break from the regular African food and tents!

One day during our DR data collection we were in the village looking for baboons troops. We were driving through a small part of the village, that was basically like a small neighborhood, and one man told us he knew where baboons like to hang out. He led us to his house and then we got out of our Land Cruiser and walked through some trees and bushes to get to his yard. Behind his house was a huge banana plantation/forest/farm. Every direction we looked was just banana trees. They were so pretty, and really cool! The trees looked very tropical. Above is a picture of a bunch of bananas. Each bunch had a large purple flower that would grow out from the fruit. The bananas in the picture aren't ripe yet, they are supposed to be yellow, buttt we do have green and red bananas here in Tanzania that we eat a lot. We only had the green ones in Kenya. They are small and less firm and a little sweeter than normal, and the red ones are huge and taste kinda different, but they are hard to explain. SO anyway, after trecking through the gorgeous banana trees we got to more woods and saw some baboons playing high in the trees. They were much more skittish than park baboons so they stayed too far away for us to record any observations, but it was a lot of fun to see them in the village woods.

Rows of Banana trees.

Chelsea and me in the Banana Forest.

2010-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is our Land Cruiser one day during data collection for DR. It rains a lot at night, and we unfortunately got stuck pretty bad. For the first time we all had to get out of the car and help push...

We had just gotten out of the car, and were about to start figuring out how the vehicle should be pushed out.

A good view of what we were really stuck in.

I'm all the way to the left. I was lucky enough to be standing in front of the tire, so that when our driver tried to move the vehicle a bunch of mud was thrown all over me by the spinning wheel. At first it was gross, but after a little while it got pretty funny.

Here we are after successfully freeing the Land Cruiser.

This is my friend Alex with one of the kids at the orphange.

Me with two little ones at the orphanage.

Some of the kids at the orphanage that were watching us perform a song and dance for them after they sang a song for us!

I'm sorry I haven't had much to say lately! I know I'm behind on a post. Today we had a day off after eight days of data collection for Directed Research. I've basically been going out everyday/all day to watch baboons. It gets pretty tiring. The next few days we will be working on data analysis, and will start writing our papers. I can't believe I only have two and half weeks left. Time has been flying by. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll try to catch everyone up soon. Hope alls well at home!

xoxo

new pictures

2010-04-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

Last week for our community service day we went to an orphanage about 15 minutes from our camp. We helped them paint a mural on this courtyard wall. While some of us painted, everyone else played with the kids for the day. It was a lot of fun, and the kids were really cute. I have a lot more pictures that I will hopefully upload soon.

Half way through the mural.

The finished wall!

A group of us with some of the kids in front of the finished mural at the orphanage.

I took this picture and the next three today while we were out collecting data for our directed research project. We have seen this baboon three of the four days we have gone out. He only walks on those two legs, and we think it is because there is something wrong with his wrists. We have never seen him straighten out his arms, and he walks very well, so he has probably been moving around like that for a long time. We call him bipede or hominid. Luckily the rest of his troop treats him normally, and he's not excluded or anything like that.

A mom with her baby. Our professor told us this infant is only a few days old.

Two infants wrestling.

An infant with mom and dad.

Elephant in Lake Manyara National Park.

A very small baby zebra. He was so young that he still had fur.

More pictures!

2010-04-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

A lion and lioness in Ngorongoro Crater.

A hyena in Serengeti eating the remains of a wildebeest.

A giant spider we found in Kenya.

Everyone setting up camp in Serengeti.

A wall mural in the small museum and gift shop on the way to Ngorongoro.

A view from inside Ngorongoro Crater looking up. The hills in the distance are the outside edges of the crater. You can also see the faint pink color of the flamingos in the water.

A view looking into Ngorongoro Crater from the top.

Cheetah in Ngorongoro.

Chelsea, me and Olivia in our campsite at Serengeti. This sign was held up on a tree in our camp saying "CAUTION! Do not get out of the campsite. Animal may attack human being."

Serengeti National Park

2010-04-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our second expedition to Serengeti National Park was even better than our trip to Tsavo. Sorry it has taken me so long for the update; the internet hasn't been very reliable lately. We returned back to camp from Serengeti on Sunday. Last week we camped out in the park for five nights. This trip was very different from our trip to Tsavo. It felt like we were in actual wilderness in Serengeti because we could hear hyenas around camp every night. We also heard the occasional lion. We had armed guards every night again so we were safe, but they had to chase hyenas out of the camp on three of the four nights!

On our drive to Serengeti we stopped at an overlook of Ngorongoro Crater for a quick view of the 250 sqare kilometer protected area. The crater was just an open grassland with a large lake, and is the home to lots of wildlife. We actually had a day trip back their today and we saw tons of animals...including: lions, cheetah, elephants, rhinos (which are highly endangered), hippos, gazelle, impala, hartebeest, wildebeest, flamingos, storks, zebra, giraffe, hyena and buffalo. The drive down into the crater was a little scary because it was pretty steep at some points, and always very bumpy. It was definitely worth it though; we had a great safari day.

So back to expedition...after our stop we continued on towards Serengeti, but first we made another stop at Oldupai Gorge. There is a picture below of the gorge and of the layers of rock that make up the area, along with a brief explanation of what we were looking at. It was one of the coolest things we have seen so far. Fossils of footprints from human ancestors were found in the area that date back to about 3 millions years ago. The gorge is a piece of the evolutionary puzzel. It was really cool to be there and to hear about how they know the small gorge used to be a lake because of all the fish and reptile bones they have uncovered in past years. The human ancestor footprints that were found were preserved in damp volcanic ash that was covered in mud. They have a replication of the prints, and the fossils show two human like creatures walking side by side, with a third, smaller individual following the first two and stepping in their footprints. I have some more pictures that I will hopefully put up soon.

So after our stop we made it to Serengeti. We set up our tents before dark and just relaxed until dinner, campfire and bed. Our four full days at Serengeti were spent mostly out on safari. The environment and habitats were very different, and were exactly how I had pictured the 'Serengeti Plains'. There were times when we were driving that all you could see was grass in every direction up to the horizon except for a few hills here and there. It was beautiful. We saw our first leopard and cheetah on the first day driving in to camp, and then saw a few more throughout our stay. We were very lucky because the group that was in Tanzania first never got to see any cheetahs, and we have seen about six since we've been here! We have had unusual luck.

During our safaris we collected animal counts and habitat data to complete class exercises on habitat preference and species diversity. The exercises didn't feel like work because we got to game drive all day which was a lot of fun. During one exercise my group saw a lion walking through high grass. She ignored us and just walked toward our car until she was less than 15 feet away, and then just walked along side us for at least a minute. Next she went out in front of our car and crossed the road to the grass on the other side, where she walked toward a tree and then jumped into it to get a nice vantage point over the plains. She was so close that we could see she was lactating, which meant she was probably out hunting for her cubs. It was the closest we have been to any predators, and she was so gorgeous up close. There is a picture of here below.

Another exciting event in Serengeti happened one day while we were all out on safari. A cheetah chased and killed an impala IN our campsite. Some of the school staff were at camp when it happened and saw the attack. There is a picture that one of them took below of the cheetah in the grass right on the edge of our camp. You can't see the impala carcass in the picture because the grass is covering it, but you can get an idea of how close the cheetah was to us. It was a little intimidating to know that a cheetah and other predators would be hanging out in camp that night fighting over the remains of the kill (but again, we had armed guards and were very safe).

On the last day we got to go to a lodge again. We all enjoyed the lunch buffet, and would have swam but it was raining. The trip was a lot of fun. We got back to our regular camp on Sunday and had the afternoon and night off.

On Monday we went into town for the first time and went to a place called Happy Days for lunch. We all had cheeseburgers and pizza that were deliciousss. The food was the most American food we have seen since we've been in Africa so we all really liked it. We hung out there for a few hours and then went into town to look around and shop. The town here is VERY different from the town we were in in Kenya. The area here has a lot of tourists because we are so close to Serengeti and Ngorongoro, so the town was much more developed and modern than in kenya. All of the shops are acutal buildings and not just huts made of dirt and metal. We even see the occasional white person around!

Tuesday we went to Lake Manyara National Park which is less than ten minutes down the road from our camp. We saw flamingos for the first time! There were a lot of baboons in the park, along with most of the other species we usually see during safari. This national park was different though because the vegetation was very jungle-like. I felt like I was in a rainforest in South America. There were lots of palm trees and trees with huge, flat, green leaves, and also a bunch of trees that grew straight up with no branches until they passed through the top canopy of leaves. It was really pretty. We also saw vervet monkeys and sykes monkeys because there were so many trees for them to live in. We get to go back a few more times before the semester is over so I'm looking forward to those trips.

Wednesday we had a day of classes, and then yesterday we went to Ngorongoro crater as I already mentioned. The crater was very cool, and I will hopefully post some pictures of it soon. We spent the whole day there and had one lecture when we stopped for a picnic near a small hippo pond. Today we just had classes. All of our exercised are due tomorrow and our final exam is Monday. Once thats over Directed Research begins. DR is going to be a lot of work. We asked the student affairs manager how long the final papers are and she told us they are usually between 50 and 80 pages. Sooo that will be interesting. There have been a few papers published in past years though, so it would be really cool for any of us to get published. I'm hoping I'll get to do the DR on baboons but I still don't know yet. Next week is for DR preparation, then the two weeks after that will be field work and data collection, and then the week after that will be for writing up our papers. Once they are done we will get to present our findings to the professors and to any locals who want to come watch our presentations. We've been warned the DR is rigorous and tiring but I'm happy to end classes and get started.

I should be posting more pictures soon. Sorry again for the delay! Hope all is well at home!
xoxo

Serengeti Pictures

2010-04-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

A giraffe in Serengeti.

We saw a harem of Impala running through the grass one day in the park. They looked like they were running from a predator, but nothing was behind them.

This is one of the best pictures of the trip. It was taken by one of our school's employees during the last full day while we were out on safari. You can see the cheetah sitting in the grass...with our campsite right behind it!! The cheetah ran through our site during the day and chased down an impala. By the time we returned to camp the cheetah was under a tree eating what was left of the impala. It was a little scary, but pretty cool. That night we heard a lot of hyenas in camp fighting over what was left over.

This is Oldupai Gorge. This is the site where human-like footprints from millions of years ago were uncovered. You can see the different layers of rock and dirt in the section that is sticking out of the ground. We got to walk through the museum that had a replication of the fossilized footprints that were created around 3 million years ago by a human ancestor. It was one of my favorite places we have visited so far.

Mama baboon with two young.

A young zebra with a pretty cool mohawk.

This is a female lion who walked along our land cruiser as we drove down the road for about a minute.

Expedition #2

2010-03-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave for expedition number two. This time we will be camping in Serengeti National Park for four nights. The group who went to Serengeti during the first half of the semester told us a lot of great things about the trip. We are getting close to the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle through Serengeti, so our stay should be pretty cool. Around one million wildebeest migrate each year. The other group said they would see dark hills in the distance, only to realize that were actually looking at thousands of wildebeest moving together.

One day of expedition will be spent visiting Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater is the remains of a volcano that erupted and then collapsed in on itself about two or three million years ago. When looking down into it it looks like a giant bowl. Its so big that it has couple lakes inside, and is a home to hundreds of wild animals. All the Tanzania students said it was their favorite part of their stay here, so it should be pretty cool.

So we leave early tomorrow morning, and we will return on Sunday. I'll have plenty of pictures and updates when I return.

I don't have much other new news. Everything in Tanz is still really great. I like the professors a lot. Our wildlife ecology professor is a woman from Oklahoma. She is a primatologist, which I was very excited to hear! She has been in and out of Africa working in different countries for years now. For a while she worked with Jane Goodall studying chimps!! Jane Goodall is pretty famous for her chimp work, so I thought it was really cool when she told us about that. Her name is Dr. Wallis and I'm hoping to do my Directed Research project with her next month. Her DR is on baboons, and because monkeys have always been my favorite I realllly really hope I will get to work on that project with her. It would be really cool to spend a month in Africa researching baboons. Once the research is complete we will write up a paper about our findings. Its always possible that the SFS papers could be published, so that would be extra exciting.

I'll write again next sunday or monday to let everyone know about the trip! Hope all is well at home/abroad. TTYS.

xoxo

The last Kenya pictures with a couple from Tanz.

2010-03-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

Two male Thomson's gazelle. Kenya.

Really cool action shot that I can't take credit for unfortunately. Kenya.

Juvenile lion in Tsavo National Park that Olivia took a picture of. Kenya.

Chelsea Gover you may need to take a deep breath before you look at this next picture...

We have a pet kitten in Tanzania. The Tanzanian students found her about a week before they left for Kenya. Now we take care of her. She is so tiny and sweet. She fit inside my palm easily.

Olympics day in Kenya before we left. Kenya.

This is the view from the observation point a few minutes away from our campsite in Tanzania. Its a little lower on the hill then camp is. You can see Lake Manyara in the distance.

Tanzania!

2010-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

So I made it to Tanzania! Yesterday we left camp around 8am, and drove from our Kenya camp site all the way here. We crossed the boarder around 11am, after waiting for paperwork to be filled out for a little while. After crossing we didn't stop again until 4pm, but when we did stop it was a great, great place to be. We saw our first grocery store in a month and a half, and a couple of really nice sandwhich and chocolate shops. Being in Africa, this was a very big deal. We all had a blast walking through the grocery store buying snacks. It was very exciting. I also had an amazing sandwich and cold juice box. Delicious. I really can't wait for real food once I'm home again! But yesterday was a very nice break from the usual food here, and everyone really enjoyed it.

After our eating stop we continued on for about another two hours to get to camp. By the time we got here it was almost 8, so it was pretty dark. Our camp is up on a hill, so we were all looking forward to getting up this morning to see the view. The entire drive was pretty long, but it didn't feel long at all. We slept a lot, and when we were awake the scenery was amazing. Tanzania is SO different from Kenya. I wasn't expecting it to be such a change. The towns we drove through were much more developed, and we saw a bunch of real builidings, resorts, and big houses. We are in tourist country here which is why everything is so nice. In Kenya, all the stores were made of metal and wood scraps, but here they are actually pretty nice. The landscape is much different too. While we were driving through towns it looked very tropical. There are a lot of palm trees and giant flowers everywhere. Its soo so cool. I love it. Our camp feels like a tropical resort. Our chumba here is completely open with only a roof made out of hay. We don't have cabins anymore though. Instead we have tents. Olivia and I are together in a tent. When we got here we just stood in front of the tent with our jaws dropped because it is SO small, and we never thought we would fit everything in, but after 'unpacking' we figured out how to make it work out. 'Unpacking' really only consisted of finding a good place for our suitcases and putting the important things on top, because we have no drawers or shelves or anything! We thought it was going to be terrible, but its actually fine. We have a small hay roof over our tent as well so we don't have to worry about rain. Our tent is just big enough for both of our beds with our suitcases at the end of our beds, and about three feet of space in between us. It's cozy. Three of the four sides are almost completely screened, so its like sleeping outside. The breeze is so nice and waking up this morning was amazingggg. I love it.

Today we just had a site tour and talked about basic orientation stuff. We went into town after lunch to exchange money for Tanzanian currency. One US Dollar is equal to about 1300 Tanzania Shillings. Today at a store in town I got two juice boxes and two candy bars for 3000 shillings, so that tells you how inexpensive everything really is. On the way back to camp we stopped at an observation point on the hill about five minutes from camp. We could see out very far, and there is a huge lake. Its so pretty. I took a bunch of pictures, and I will put one of the view up when I load them on here.

I loved Kenya, but I think I like Tanzania a little more already. We have no view of Kili from here unfortunately because we are in so many hills, but everything here is really beautiful. I love the palm trees and flowers, and there are less thorns on the ground and less dirt everywhere. Its really nice.

Before we left Kenya yesterday we did have a Tanzania vs. Kenya olympics on Thursday. It was a lot of fun, but it got a litttttle over competetive at times. I played volleyball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee, and did a relay race while carrying a cup of tea. It was like field day or something back in middle school....but it was fun. In the end we never even figured out who the winners were, although I think it might have been them. But it was definitely close. The last night in Kenya was sad, but after sharing camp with strangers for two nights we were ready to go and get to Tanz. And now that we are here, we love it! Also, after meeting the other group of kids I love my group even more. Everyone in my group gets along and are friends. We really don't have any cliques or weird relationships at all. The other group was very high schoolish and you could see the segregated groups. There is not one person here that I wouldn't feel comfortable hanging out with, and I think that is a lot of why this trip has been so great!

So I have't done much here in Tanz yet, so I don't have much to say, but I really love it! The pictures should be up soon! I'll let everyone know how its going again soon. Hope all's well at home! TTYS!

March 18th

2010-03-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Love you : )

So tomorrow I'm off to Tanzania. I've heard a lot of great things about the camp there. I'll try to let everyone know about it in the next couple days once I'm there. Hope all is well at home! TTYS!

Tsavo Continued

2010-03-13T09:56:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the sloppiness of my last post! I was in a bit of a rush. So more about the camping trip...

We left Saturday the 6th, early in the morning for Tsavo. The first place we stopped in the park once we got there was at a section of the "Shetani Lava Flows". We walked around on sharp, dark black rocks that were made from solidified lava. The lava flows are considered young because the eruption was only around one hundred years ago. The rocks looked really cool because random trees and bushes were growing out of the black rocks. The bright green on top of the black landscape was really pretty. The rocks were also very strange because they sounded like glass if you stepped on the them or dropped them on the ground.

Our next stop was at Mzima Springs. We had to fight off monkeys to eat our food in peace, but I obviously had a field day with that. They were so cute. We didn't feed them because people really are not supposed to do that. They were fun to watch though. After we ate we walked along the river and saw some hippos and crocadiles. They were all huge. It was pretty intimidating. The springs were a nice environment change, and I was pretty excited about the crocs! From Mzima Springs we drove the rest of the way to camp and set everything up before dinner. I shared a tent with three girls, Chelsea, Amanda and Jordan. The girls all had huge four person tents, and the boys had tiny three person tents. It was very funny seeing them all set up next to each other. The boys didn't look too thrilled, to say the least.

Night one was the night of the huge thunderstorm I wrote in the post below this one. In the morning we left for the Chyulu hills around 7:30. The drive was basically a mini rollercoaster ride, because it was a lot of serious off roading to get to the hills. The last picture two posts below is of the hills. They were gorgeous. On the way home from Chyulu we stopped in town before we returned to camp and everyone got to buy some candy and food and ice cream. I bought a chapati, which is basically like a thick, warm tortilla, and are my favvvvorite things to eat here. They are delicious, and Aurther is going to teach me how to make them before I leave Kenya : )

Night two was again rainy but with a smaller thunderstorm. We were not as flooded as the first time, but still got pretty wet. The second full day started with a class from 7:30-9:00. In the afternoon we had a guest lecture talk to us about the park, and later on we had group presentations about what we have learned in all of our classes so far about the Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem. It was basically an academic day.

Day three we woke up and had a game drive from 7:00-12:00. We were separated into groups and given different regions of the park to drive through, and every group recorded the animals they saw and what kinds of habitats they were in. Later on we completed a lab based on all the data collected which examined habitat preference for specific animal species. The afternoon of the count we hiked up another big hill in the park and had lunch up there. It was again very scenic and so pretty. The rest of the afternoon was spent out on game drive. By the end of the day everyone was exhausted, and I slept verrry well that night.

On day four we went to a Rhinoceros sanctuary. The sanctuary is a fenced off area of Tsavo that monitors and protects Black Rhinos because they are so highly endangered. The sanctuary covers about 90 square kilometers, and provides a home for 65-70 Black Rhinos. While at the sactuary we didnt see any of them, but later on we went to a lodge that had a great observation deck. We saw three of the rhinos with binoculars. What made the sightings even better was that we were poolside and enjoying a couple drinks each. It was a relaxing, and greatly appreciated afternoon : ) We have only had the chance to spend time at different lodges to eat and relax a couple times, so whenever we get to go it is a lot of fun. After the lodge we headed back to camp for our fifth and last night.

When we woke up on Thursday we had breakfast and packed up. We were on the way back to KBC by 8:30. We got back around 12, and after lunch we finished up the volleyball tourney that has been playing out for the past couple weeks. The only game left was the final. My team was one of the two finalists, and we won 2 games to 1, so we are the new KBC volleyball champions. The tourney was a lot of fun, but it was mostly just to practice for the olympics that will be here next week....

Next thursday, all of the students who are in Tanzania now will be here in Kenya for the day with us. We are holding a Kenya vs. Tanzania olympics. At the moment I am signed up for volleyball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee. Some of the other events include a watermelon seed spitting contest, a mosquito net tucking contest, a spear throwing contest, and a bunch of others. I'm really looking forward it. We ordered jerseys and everything, so its going to be pretty serious!! After the olympics on thursday our time in Kenya is up!! On friday we travel down to Tanzania for the rest of the semester. I can't believe it's already time to swap. I'm sad to leave Kenya, but I'm excited to get to Tanzania, and I'm glad I get to stay with all the friends I have here. Everyone has gotten so close, and the entire group gets along.

So the next few days I will need to study a good amount, but hopefully I have an update again before the trip to Tanzania. If not, I'll let everyone know how it is once I get there! TTYS! Hope all is well at home : )

xoxo,
Jen

Tsavo Expedition

2010-03-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

So I survived the five nights at Tsavo National Park. The expedition was very, very fun, but it was also definitely a challenge at times. We left early on Saturday morning and the drive was only about two and half hours long, but we took a few stops on the way, so we got to camp in the afternoon. We set up camp and all of our tents and once we were all settled we went for a game drive. The park was very different from Amboseli, and the parts we drove through the first day had dense vegetation, so we didn't see many animals where we were. We only had time to drive around for a couple hours, and then we went back to camp for dinner. The cook, Aurther, can do some crazy/unbelievable/amazing things in the kitchen, and made really great food during the trip. They brought a portable gas stove to cook with, but one night we had a birthday, and he figured out how to make a cake by steaming it since there was no oven. It was really cool, and impressive. After dinner every night we had a camp fire and we would all get to relax and hang out which was also pretty fun. The first night we saw a GIANT scorpion. There is a picture of it in the post below this one. It was scary. Luckily no one got stung or anything; he was just spotted on camp. The first night we also had a leopard in camp! The guards saw him before he got past the perimeter of camp, and they didn't tell any of us because they didn't want us to spook him, but they told us the next day, and it was pretty cool/kinda scary to hear about. But our guards were out every night all night so we all felt safe.

The first night we also had a thunderstorm. And when I say thunderstorm, I mean torrential, violent rain, and thunder that sounded like snapping static electricity instead of rolling grumbles. It was kinda scary, especially because we were in little pitched tents! Everyone ended up getting a little flooded and wet, but by the next afternoon it was so hot again everything got the chance to dry out. March to May is the 'wet season' in Africa, so we will probably start to see some rain every now and then, but it still shouldn't be too much. It has rained a couple times, but it never lasts long, and it stays pretty warm, so its actually a nice break from the heat sometimes.

So I really liked the camp fires at night, and the game drives during the days. On the first full day we had a day trip to the Chyulu Hills. It was amazingly beautiful. The hills were huge, and sooo green. We hiked to the top of one. It was a good little workout. All of the hills are at least a mile high, so we were dealing with some elevation changes too. The last picture in the post below is of the hills. Once we got to the top we had lunch and a field lecture about the area, and could see for miles and miles. It was crazy.

I'm running out of internet time so I will try to continue this post tomorrow. The trip overall was A LOT of fun, but I was definitely glad to get back to a shower today, and to be in a real bed tonight. I'll fill everyone in on more soon!! Thanks for reading : ) TTYS!

Tsavo Pictures

2010-03-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Scariest thing I have ever seen. This scorpion was HUGE. We saw him on the first night. The first thing I said was, "thats not real", the second thing I said was, "are you sure its not a lobster?" Most scorpions we see here are 1.5 to 2 inches long, but this guy was around 6.

This is everyone after a travel lecture we had the first day of expedition, on the way to Tsavo.

A giant millipede at camp one night. We saw few of these guys. Kinda gross, but harmless.

An elephant that got a little aggressive when we were too close. He got a little angry, but never completely charged us.

At the top of one of the hills we hiked up. Daniel is to the left, he is a professor and lives here with us, and Aurther, on the right, is the cook. They are both very funny.

A couple of the lions we saw in Tsavo!

A view of the Chyulu Hills. It was a hard hike, but it was definitely worth it. The view was amazing.

Kenya Update!

2010-03-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been MIA for a while...things here have been really busy. I've had a few papers and a couple labs due this past week. Everything is still going great!

Last week on our day off we went to a travelling health clinic. The clinic is free for anyone who goes, and we all went to help out the doctors and volunteers with whatever we could. It was mostly parents bringing their children into the clinic for check ups or for meds. I was put at the Vitamin A station with a couple of my friends. My job was to use a needle to open up a plastic pill, and then squeeze vitamin A drops in the mouths of 6-11 month olds. I felt like I was some kind of doctor giving vitamins to babies, even though I wasn't really doing much at all. The first baby I gave drops to was very calm, but she was about the only one. After her, every other little one would cry and scream when their mothers opened their mouths and I leaned over them to give them the drops. It was sad when they cried, but I knew they needed the vitamins, so it wasn't too bad. After vitamin A I moved to the diagnosis table with one of the doctors who explained the symptoms of every patient to me. They all spoke swahili, but the doctor translated for me so that I would know what was going on. It was hard, again, to see the condition of some of the people there, both adults and children, but at the same time I was glad to see them being treated. All the medication and vitamins they were getting was free, which was also really great.

Every time I go out to do service or to hang out with the locals I think that I've really seen how difficult life can be here. BUT, it wasn't until yesterday that I really did see how hard things can get. Two days ago we went to a support group meeting for people who are living with HIV or aids. The people told us their stories. They told us how they found out they had HIV, what other members of their families have the disease, and the number of family members they have lost to the disease. It was unbelievable how strong they all were, and how they had overcome their fear. The support group, they all said, saved them. Once they found the group and met other people they could relate to it made dealing with HIV easier. Many of them explained that once they contracted the disease they would be excluded and harassed by others. The support group created hope for all the members, and it was again amazing how positive the people stayed.

I have always known that I live a blessed live, but I never knew how lucky I am, we all are, until I arrived here, and saw the reality of other peoples' lives. Don't forget how much we all have!

Well after that trip everyone was a little shocked, but the support group leaders made us feel very welcome, because they said that when they are associated with visitors like us it makes them proud, and it lets other people in the area see there is no reason they can't be treated just like everyone else. Luckily, awareness is rising, and people are being educated more in general, and more about the disease as well.

SO after the clinic we were able to go into town for some time to look around and shop. It was a fun afternoon. We were only out for a little while, and then we came home to work on some school stuff and relax for the night. I was sitting on my computer last night...about to write this blog post...when someone ran in and yelled...PYTHONNNNN LETS GOOO!!! ....which is why my blog entry didn't happen last night...

SO, our teacher Daniel had seen the python near the gate, so he ran to the Chumba (main building) where most of us were. He knew that a lot of us would be interested in seeing a real python, which I was. About 10 or 15 of us got up and followed Daniel to walk out to the gate. By the time we got there, there were 4 ascaris with flashlights looking through the tall grass for it. They knew it had to be in a general area, because they had been watching the spots where it could have left the tall grass, and hadn't come out yet. So we all spent about 10 minutes looking, and then one of the boys found it. We all got to see it, and it was really cool. It was a little nerve racking because we were in tall grass, so before it was spotted I was always hoping I didn't end up stepping on it or something. I was also nervous because I thought a lot of the boys had false confidences going on. They all wanted to find it, and because there were 4 ascaris with machetes looking, they thought they were completely safe, but it was still a wild python, and they should have been a little less confident then they were. Luckily everything worked out fine, and it really was a pretty controlled scene, somthing would have really needed to go wrong for anything bad to happen. But don't worry dad, I stayed smart and didn't try anything crazy/stupid : ) That is the second live snake I have seen so far. It was pretty cool because it was bigggg. I was excited I got to see it.

For the past week we have had a volleyball tournament going (Mel). My team won in the semi finals today, so we will be moving on to the finals soon. It's a lot of fun.

My most exciting news for today though, is that tomorrow expedition starts! We are leaving at 7:30 in the morning for Tsavo National Park. The park is about two and a half hours away, and we will be camping there for 5 nights! Our camp site is not blocked off or surrounded at all, so we will have armed guards patrolling the site at all times. If we want to get up and go to the bathroom at night, we have to alert a guard so that they can escort us. Last semester they had elephants in the site hanging out by the bathrooms, so no one could use them for a couple hours. They haven't had lions enter the campsite in a few years, but it has happened before. We get to have camp fires every night, and travel through the park visiting different sites each day. The park takes up close to 20,000 square kilometers, so there is plenty to see. We had another safety and awareness lecture today so that we know what to look and listen for, both during the day and night. The men who come with us to guard our camp have all grown up here, and they know how to protect us, so no one should worry! Plus I'm always very safe. I'm so excited to go. This is like the best week of Kenya! I'm sure I will come back with lots of pictures next week : )

I'll let you know how it all goes when I'm back next Thursday. For now I have lots of packing to help with. Hope all is well! Love and miss everyone!!! TTYS!!

: )

More Pictures

2010-02-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

Some zebra and giraffe we saw out on a hike yesterday about ten minutes from camp.

These are the bandas, or student cabins, we live in. I live in one with two other girls Sam and Olivia.

This is the inside of my banda. Thats my mosquito netted bed to the left!

This is the little girl Vivian we met on our homestay.

Some more zebras.

Everyone who went on the hike on a giant termite hill.

I'm standing in two elephant foot prints, but they are kinda hard to see.

This is my roommate Olivia with Abagail. Vivian is playing with the water in front of the house, and Lydia, the girls' mom, is in the doorway. That is the house that they all live in together.

Abigail and me

Abigail and Vivian inspecting my hand.

Homestay

2010-02-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I hope you guys liked my pictures! I'm going to try to put more up soon. I have a bunch from the homestay I went on yesterday. This homestay I went on was basically just a day to live in an African boma, or home, with an African family for the day. My roommate Olivia and I were paired together and dropped off at 7:30 in the morning to a small home just about five minutes away from camp. We were welcomed by a woman Lydia, and her two little girls Abigail and Vivean. They led us in through their gate, which they made with lots of branches and thorns to keep animals out. Their house was made with sticks, mud and manure, and consisted of two small rooms. Both rooms had enough space for one twin bed, and then open walking space which was about the size of another twin size bed. In the main room, where the front door was, they had two small tables as well. Under the tables were the 5 pots the family owned, and on top were the few plates, cups, and bowls they had. They also had some small food items like tea and salt, but everything they had for cooking and cleaning was on top of a table that was about three feet by 2 feet. It was another eye opener to say the least.

So when we got there we were welcomed into the house to put our bags down. We then went right out to the garden to start the days work. The family we visited harvests tomatoes, so we went through the garden, which was maybe 25 square feet, and pulled out all the weeds. Instead of throwing the weeds out we would place them on top of the tomato plants so that the afternoon sun wouldn't damage them. We did this for close to an hour and then we walked over to a different section of the garden where maize was growing. Lydia gave Olivia a "slasher" and she gave me a giant knife. The slasher was used kind of like a hoe to loosen dirt around the growing plants, and the giant knife was for hacking down big weeds. After a while we switched jobs, and finally were finished after about another hour. I had a bunch of blisters and felt like such a whimp. I still can't believe they really do these things all the time.

After gardening we went inside for a tea break. We had tea and bisquits, and it was nice to relax. Once we finished it was time to get water. We walked about 15 minutes to a watering hole. We filled up three big jugs of water. As we walked we talked to Lydia, and she explained that she walks to get water every morning and night. Once the jugs were full she tied a cloth through their handles and propped them up so that the material she tied rested on the top of our foreheads. We walked the 15 minutes back with water jugs on our backs, while we supported the weight with our heads. It was very African haha. The worst thing I have seen since I've been here happened while we were getting water. Half way into collecting a herd of cows and goats walked right into the small pool we were taking the water from. They were drinking and going to the bathroom is the same watering hole the families in the area get their water from everyday. I hated seeing that. It was terrible. I'm pretty sure they boil all the water they get before using it, but it was still so sad to see them using such disgusting water.

When we got back, we went back out to the garden. We picked tomatoes for an hour. By then it was 12, and sun was hot, and picking tomatoes was notttt fun. Luckily after an hour we got to go back to the house to make lunch. We remade the small fire outside the house and first cooked ugali, which is basically ground corn put into boiling water. When its done it looks like white mashed potatos, and tastes kinda like mashed up white rice. Next I cut two tiny onions up and put them in a pot with butter (actually I think it might have just been lard, ew). Once the butter/lard was melted I added five small tomatoes I had chopped up, and then a head of cabbage I had also cut up. All that was mixed until it was hot. We then put these veggies with the ugali and all sat down to eat. By lunch the two little girls, who were 6 and 2, had gotten very comfortable with Olivia and I, and were having a lot of fun playing with us, sitting on our laps and hugging us. We also played with the 5 children of Lydia's husbands other wife. They were all so so so cute. I will try to put up pictures of them soon. They were very interested in us, and they played with our hair and inspected our skin. They even tried to take my freckles off of me. They didnt know much english, but luckily their mom knew a good amount so communication wasn't too much of a problem during the day. Some of the other groups couldn't communicate with their host families all day, so we got lucky.

After lunch we all rested and hung out together. By the time we had to go I was exhausted but it was sad to leave the little girls and Lydia after connecting with them all day. It was an amazing experience that I never imagined I would have, but at times it made me very sad to see how little they really did have.

The day was another overall good day.

So I have one more story before I go...but I should warn you Grammy, you might not want to keep reading... A few nights ago when I left my cabin to go to the bathroom, I had the first snake sighting of the semester! When we got here we were given a safety lecture about all the creatures here including snakes. There are three very poisonous snakes that live in Kenya, and that have been seen on camp in the past. Every night everyone has to wear closed toed shoes and long pants to keep us protected from them, just in case. Luckily, thats what I was wearing when I saw the snake. It wasn't big at all; it was very very small, but those ones are actually considered the most dangerous. When baby snakes bite they don't know how to control their venom, so they will just release it all when the strike. The one that I saw, that we think was a baby black mamba, has enough venom to kill a few people. HOWEVER it was so small that I really don't think it would have gotten through my pants or shoes if it did try to bite. But after I saw it I went straight to the guards and told them I saw a snake. They only speak swahili, and just nodded their heads at me, so I stood there for a few seconds and then just said, snake!! At the word they all jumped up and repeated snake and followed me to where it was. They killed it, because any snake found on camp is killed just to be safe. Im very glad it was a baby, because I probably would have freaked out if I saw a big one. SO thats my snake story. It wasnt so bad, so dont worry Grammy!!!

OK well I'll try to get more pictures up soon from my two safaris last week. Hope all is well! Thanks for reading : )

Jen

Pictures!

2010-02-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

An elephant we saw on Safari.

Vervet Monkeys we saw on Safari, on our break day at the lodge in Amboseli National Park. We got to stop at the beautiful lodge for lunch and to enjoy the pool. It was a lot of fun, and we saw sooo many monkeys, which are my favorite. They were so cute...clearly.

A view of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the top of a hill we had one of our field lectures on during the second week of classes.

The Maasai women dancing as part of their welcoming song.

The Lions we saw on Safari today. The babies were so cute!

These are only a few of the pictures I have to show everyone when I get back home!

The Maasai

2010-02-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

SO the past few days (weds, thurs, fri) have just been class days, so nothing too exciting. Today however, was a community service day. We got up at the normal time and had breakfast at 7:30. After eating we all packed lunches and got ready for the service. We found out this morning that we would be helping with a project nearby thats working to get clean water out to local people in the area. Every time we leave camp and drive places we see lots of kids and some adults pushing carts with 9 or 10 huge jugs that carry water through town. Some people have to walk miles to get to clean water to bring back to their homes. The project will hopefully help to shorten the distance between families and clean water.

We were broken into three groups, and brought to different sections of a pipe/waterway that is being built to transport water out into more communities so they don't have to travel so far to get to water themselves. So me and 8 other students got to our site where about 8 Kenyans were already working. The project was basically a trench made in the ground, that had two sets of wooden pieces propped up near the edges that were going to be filled with cement to make two cement walls for water to move through.

The first thing we had to do was shovel dry cement into a wheel barrow and push it maybe 75 yards to the section of canal we were going to work on. When we got there one of the Kenyan guys who looked around our age was pushing it and it didn't look so bad. Then one of the guys from our group tried and it didn't look so easy...but I wanted to try anyway, so I went next. I made it, but it was NOT easy. The Kenyan men didn't think I would make it and I did so it was worth it! I did one more trip after the first, but mostly helped with the shoveling. Once that was finished we moved to the trench that was being dug. I worked on the trench with my roommate Olivia, and my other friend Alex, and three Kenyans, Lucy, Anne, and Joseph. Lucy and Joseph spoke a lot of english so that helped the process go easier. To dig the trench one person would shash a hoe into the ground to loosen the dirt, and then the another person would follow with a shovel to get rid of the dirt. It didn't look very hard, but was surprisingly difficult. Lucy and Anne did it effortlessly.....Lucy is 59, and Anne is older. I could not believe how fast and well they were moving, while us 20 year old Americans were struggling.

After digging the trench which took about an hour, we moved on to help with the cement that was being put into the wooden frames. Olivia and I and another couple girls worked on bringing water to the dry cement pile so the guys could keep mixing and using it. To get water we had to go to a mud pit about 100 yards away and slowly fill up some big buckets. Carrying the buckets back wasn't easy either! Once the section we were working on was finished we left to go back to camp.

It really was amazing how accustomed they were to such strenuous work. They start work at 5 or 6 every morning and are busy with manual labor all day. They were barely even sweating and didn't drink any water the entire time. By the time we left we were all so tired, and ready for lunch, and they were still their working. It was definitely another eye opening experience.

After a lunch break at camp we were very excited for this afternoon. Last night we were told that the Maasai tribe was having a ceremony, and that we were invited to join as their neighbors. The last time students got to go to a Maasai ceremony was in 2003, so we were very excited! Ceremonies in the Maasai tribe are only held a few times each year and they are only for special occasions. Today was a ceremony for an age group of boys who are 'coming of age', and transfering into manhood. We got to see all the men and women in their traditional dress and beading. The women sang and danced, while the men sang/grunted, and jumped soooo high. They were amazing. It was very interesting and exciting to see. Tourists aren't allowed to go to cememonies like this, but they let us join as neighbors. My camera was put to great use once again : )

So today was not a typical day, and maybe not the most exciting to read about...but it definitely was another eye opener. Tomorrow we have another day off, and we are going on a hike outside of camp. Next week were are going to Amboseli National Park two more times for safaris, so I'll have more to write about.

Until then, hope all is well at home!! OH annnd, one of my good old Buddies informed me that I've been making some typos....sorry, spelling isn't my forte, plus I have a time limit on the internet! Hope everyone will forgive me!

ttys
: )

SAFARI

2010-02-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

SO two days ago was our first Safari! We drove about 45 minutes to Amboseli National Park, which is just east of our camp. Before we even got inside the park, we could see elephants browsing right next to the entrance gate. Amboseli isn't fenced off, but instead it is just an area of protected land where no one is allowed to live, farm or herd. It is not maintained or taken care of by anyone, and is one of the only areas in Kenya that is just left alone so that nature can do its own work. If animals were fenced in, all of the resources would be depleted and nothing would be able to survive. So the National Park, along with the others in Kenya, is just protected land that no one can tamper with. Animals go there often to eat and drink, which is why it is such a tourist attraction. Once we got in the park we saw giraffe, gazelle, a warthog, zebras, elephants, lots of birds, and tonsss of baboons. They were amazing. There were a lot of little babies hanging on their parents, and also a bunch of young ones playing around and wrestling with each other. I can't wait to show everyone the pictures. They were the best.

After a few hours at the park everyone was exhausted so we headed back to camp. Our tour of the park was really just an introduction because we are going back two more times next week.

Yesterday we had a field lecture for class. To get to the location for the lecture we had to drive about 45 minutes to a giant, rocky hill. We had to start early so breakfast was moved up to 7am. I was on cook crew again, so I had to be in the kitchen at 6am. I was on donut duty. So I made donuts for the first time! It was really fun. I just cut up the dough and put it into the oil and flipped them and everything. I have made friends with the chef Arther, or Atha as he says it, because he knows I really like to cook, and we talk about what he makes a lot. After I finished the donutes I asked if I could make them cinnamon sugar donuts and he said I could so I mixed some up and put it on. I thought it made them even better. Arther is also from the Maasai tribe, and grew up around here. He is a big volleyball player, and I wear some of Mel's volleyball tshirts so he always talks about it, and he plays with all of us sometimes because most days we have a game or two.

Once breakfast was over we drove to the hill, which was more like a mini mountain. We hiked to the top, which took about a half hour, and it felt like we were going straight up. It was definitely one of the most difficult hikes I've ever been on, just because it was so steep and the "trail" was tiny. (Thought of you on Pre-O Mel haha). We were next to rock or thorns the whole time. Once we were at the top, we all took out our camp chairs and sat on a big rock and had a lecture up there. It was very, very hot, but it was gorgeous looking out into the savannah and nice to get out of the classroom. After the hour and a half or so we trecked back down. This hike was in open grassland so we had two ascari's, or guards, come with us with big guns in case anything dangerous was around and got too close. They were pretty intense, but didn't need to protect us from anything. On the drive there and back it was like we were off-roading, since there was no road and we were just driving through grass and dirt. All three land cruisers got stuck in some serious mud once each, but after about 30 minutes or so the drivers got us through. I thought we were going to tip a couple times which was a little scary, but overall the fishtailing and off-roading was fun! We also saw zebra, giraffes, lots of gazelle, ostriches, birds and wildebeests on the drives to and from camp. After the hike we came back for lunch, class and downtime.

At night all the guards wear long pants and jackets, boots, snow hats and gloves. I don't think it ever gets colder than 55 to 60 degrees... Their version of cold is so crazy. Even when we drive through town a lot of people wear jackets and hats, when we all have on shorts and tshirts! When we drive through town all the little kids run up to our cars and wave and smile and sing and yell. They aren't used to seeing "muzungu", or while people, and are very curious and excited when we drive through.

Thats all for now. We have an off day on Tuesday and we're going for another hike. This time we'll be going down into a gorge to see a waterfall. So I'll have some about that soon. Hope all is well back home, and it Europe for you guys over there : ) ttys!

AFRICA!

2010-02-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

So I finally made it!! The internet has been awful so far, and still is, but it should be getting better in the next couple of days. I wish I could describe how beautiful everything is here!

The traveling seemed like it lasted forever. I couldn't sleep during my first plane ride to London so I was pretty tired all day, but then I passed out for almost the entire second plane ride because I was so exhausted. Before the second flight to Nairobi, I travelled through Leicester Square with Jenna in the morning, and then met Brian a few tube stops down for some lunch and a little more sight seeing. London was more exciting than I expected to be honest! I really liked it!

When I finally got to Kenya I was ready to go. We were picked up at the airport by a few of the staff, who are all native Kenyans. They drove us to camp in giant Land Cruisers which was pretty cool. The ride only took about 4 hours, and we took two stops on the way. It was verrry hot. The streets had no lines, signs or speed limits and were pretty scary, but our drivers were much more cautious than the people passing us...in both directions.

The camp is like nothing I expected. I thought it would be mown down grass and dusty, open field, but I was wrong. We are surrounded by tall grass and huge trees that look like the ones in the Lion King. Only the main area of the camp where the cabins bathrooms and main building are is trimmed down. Because it rained about a month ago everything is huge and green. It is gorgeous. The first day was pretty relaxed because they knew we were all exhausted. It was even difficult to unpack and get sheets on my bed, but seeing the moon and stars that night made it all worth it. They are SO bright. It was amazing.

The second day was pretty relaxed in the morning...but I was on cook crew, which meant I had to get up at 6:30 to help make breakfast with the cooks and 4 other students. It was actually pretty fun. I made the pancakes! I was thinking about my mom, dad and Aunt Dor on their griddles cooking 8 pancakes at a time, because I made about 30...1 at a time!! To make each one I put a normal amount of batter in the pan and then immediately rotated the pan so that the batter would spread. I quickly flipped them, making a very thin final pancake. They were pretty good! Later on we had safety discussions that were pretty scary but as long as everyone stays smart, (no worries dad) they will be fine. In the afternoon we went into a town called Kimana because it was market day. All the girls had to wear skirts or dresses, and it was one of the most interesting and overwhelming experiences I have ever had. All the women who sell their beaded jewelery came after us shoving everything in our faces and hands trying to get us to buy something. All we could do was shake our heads and try to remember the words hapana for no and asante for thank you. In the end I bought a couple small bracelets but it was very very stressful because we had to say no close to 5o times (no exaggeration) to get them to walk away... and they would still come back a few minutes later.

After town we came back and just had dinner and relaxed for the night. Today we had a nature walk in the morning, so we went outside the camp boundaries and explored with Daniel, one of the men who works and teaches here. He carried his tribal spear, sword, and walking stick, in case we happened to run across any predators. Daniel and many of the other staff grew up in a Maasai tribe. He has the traditional circular scars on his face and arms. Some of the other men, who don't speak any english, have the large holes in their ears like you see on TV and in magazines, they are our security guards that watch the gate 24 hours a day. I knew the men that worked here were kenyan, but I didn't realize that some of them came right out of their tribes to work for the school after growing up in their traditional ways. It is so fascinating!

After our walk we had some short introductions to our classes that will start tomorrow and then had free time. I went outside to play volleyball with some kids, and as we played there were a bunch of little monkeys playing around in the trees right next to us. I have seen at least one monkey on camp everyday so far, which is very exciting because they are my favorite.

I know I am forgetting some, but I'll save some for next time. Our first safari is this Saturday at Amboseli National Park, which is not far from here. I'm very excited to go! I'm sorry this took so long, and it still might be difficult to communicate in the next few days. I should be able to use the internet every other night once its set up right. Hope all is well at home! And I'll update again when I can!

xoxo, Jen : )

Slide Show

2010-01-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

www.fieldstudies.org/pages/4157_kenya.cfm

The link shows a slide show of the program I'm going to. Open the link, scroll down and click on the video that shows a hippo opening its mouth. These are pictures from past years during the program.

Preparation

2010-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

Only 4 more days until I leave! My suitcase is open...and everything I need to put in it is all over the floor of my room...I'm working on it.

I leave for London on the 30th at 7:45 pm, and will land at Heathrow at 7:15 am, January 31st, London time. I plan to spend the day there, with my friends Jenna and Brian who are there for the semester, and explore for a while before I have to get back to the airport for my flight to Nairobi that leaves at 9:20 pm. The flight will be 8 hours and 45 minutes, and is scheduled to land at 9:30am, Kenya time. By the time I get to Kenya the time differnce will put me 8 hours ahead of everyone at home.

When I get to Kenya I will hopefully update this blog every few days. The generator at the camp is turned on every night from about 6:30 to 11:00. Wireless internet is available, but it is not strong enough for everyone to use at once, so the students alternate days. Even when I do get to use the internet, it will not be strong enough for me to upload pictures or skype with anyone, so unfortunately there will be no pictures or video conversations until I am back home, or somewhere with stronger internet.