It's always nice to have your moment in the sun. Hanako Justice... no, this is not some new superhero that Marvel has put out. She is a 24-year old Californian who has become a close friend to us both. She is also Gabby's morning run partner, and together they are training for the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon in February. She keeps a blog to inform her old high school (which sponsors two St Jude students) of her goings-on. This week she wrote a post all about us (click here to see it!). She pretty much hit the nail on the head by saying that we are 80 year olds and 6 year olds, trapped in 30 year old bodies. (Except for the 30 year old part). We do in fact go to bed at 8:30, and we do make very childish jokes. In fact, we have recently spawned a rash of "your face" jokes. Here is an example, for those of you who are not familiar:
(as we are sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch one day):
Hana: Those cars are actually quite widespread across North America.
Gabby: Your face is widespread across North America.
Yes. Here we are, helping with the education of Tanzanian children. Oops.
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Monday, 24 September 2012
Voices from Heaven
(I tried to add a video here but kept getting error messages. Apparently blogger.com only likes Puff Adder videos:)
One of our coworkers, Jenny, teaches ESL to the teachers at the school. On Sunday afternoons, she also walks over to a local orphanage and tutors the secondary students there in their English. She decided to invite the kids to see the Loruvani choir with us. Afterwards, she brought them back to our kitchen where she had cooked all of us a huge pasta dinner. We had a lot of fun sitting around the table with these teenagers, talking and laughing (and helping them with their inaugural attempt at spooling spaghetti around a fork). Afterward we had a dance party in the kitchen, with a rather amateur version of a conga line wrapping around the room, dancing to LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem. It was a great night overall... the choir, the fellowship around the table, the goofy dancing. Our house was filled with the warmth of laughter and community. We went to bed very thankful.
Monday, 10 September 2012
Brent's Critter Blog...and other things.
Well Gabby wrote the last entry, so now it is my turn to inform and entertain, I hope. Anyone that knows me, knows I love critters of all kinds. If you know me well you know that reptiles and especially snakes are at the top of my list, so when I knew we were coming to Tanzania I brushed up on my herpetological knowledge of the local snake species. I'm glad I did because as Gabby mentioned in the last entry, there is a snake story to be told...
Just over two weeks ago, before we arrived here at the school, we were enjoying our final vacation adventure before our duties were to begin. We were in the shallow south of TZ in the Udzungwa Mountains staying a very cool camp at the foot of the mountains for a few days. Though we had gone on a guided hike the day before, where my eyes were peeled the whole time for snakes or lizards (and monkeys too), it wasn't to be until the next day on our own self bicycle tour through the local villages that we came upon a very special treat. We were slightly out of the main village and on a sandy road about 20ft across when Gabby, riding out front yelled "Snake, snake, snake!" Well that was all I needed to hear to jump of my bike and run up to her while adeptly bringing the camera out of my bag and into ready position. As soon as I saw it, I knew what it was and what a treat this was. There lumbering across the road without a care in the world was one of Africa's most feared venomous beauties. A PUFF ADDER just over a metre long. A big female by colouring. There are other feared snakes here like the Black Mamba and several cobra species, but this one is at or near the top of the list for bites on humans in all of East Africa. With Gabby's voice sharing worthy concern behind me, I got to with about 7 or 8 feet. Not only did the snake not care about me, but it seemed to show no concern to the rooster dancing about its head in protest to its presence. We both thought the rooster was about to die, but no drama was to be. Fortunately I know that a Puff Adder is one of the slowest moving snakes there is. The opposite of the Black Mamba, fastest in the world. But the Puff is one of the fastest strikers and is an ambush predator. It waits camouflaged on the sides of pathways and bushes to wait for passing prey. People get bitten more by these snakes because they just don't see them and then step next to or on it and WHAP! Okay, enough Croc Hunter excitement here's the pic I snapped. Very cool. Don't worry mom, it is a sluggish snake and in NO position to strike. Safety first. I look at it as God saying, "All right Brent, I know how much you want to see a cool snake so because it is so rare and you won't see one likely again, let's get it out of the way." Thanks G!
Here's the short video. Hope it works well...
Other random cool critters...
Buffalo Spider (looks venomous to me) and huge 7inch centipede in Zanzibar.
Oh and here are some of my new favourite 'non' critter friends from CoL, followed by my most loved critter of all whom I miss a lot back there in Canada. Hi Phantom!
Just over two weeks ago, before we arrived here at the school, we were enjoying our final vacation adventure before our duties were to begin. We were in the shallow south of TZ in the Udzungwa Mountains staying a very cool camp at the foot of the mountains for a few days. Though we had gone on a guided hike the day before, where my eyes were peeled the whole time for snakes or lizards (and monkeys too), it wasn't to be until the next day on our own self bicycle tour through the local villages that we came upon a very special treat. We were slightly out of the main village and on a sandy road about 20ft across when Gabby, riding out front yelled "Snake, snake, snake!" Well that was all I needed to hear to jump of my bike and run up to her while adeptly bringing the camera out of my bag and into ready position. As soon as I saw it, I knew what it was and what a treat this was. There lumbering across the road without a care in the world was one of Africa's most feared venomous beauties. A PUFF ADDER just over a metre long. A big female by colouring. There are other feared snakes here like the Black Mamba and several cobra species, but this one is at or near the top of the list for bites on humans in all of East Africa. With Gabby's voice sharing worthy concern behind me, I got to with about 7 or 8 feet. Not only did the snake not care about me, but it seemed to show no concern to the rooster dancing about its head in protest to its presence. We both thought the rooster was about to die, but no drama was to be. Fortunately I know that a Puff Adder is one of the slowest moving snakes there is. The opposite of the Black Mamba, fastest in the world. But the Puff is one of the fastest strikers and is an ambush predator. It waits camouflaged on the sides of pathways and bushes to wait for passing prey. People get bitten more by these snakes because they just don't see them and then step next to or on it and WHAP! Okay, enough Croc Hunter excitement here's the pic I snapped. Very cool. Don't worry mom, it is a sluggish snake and in NO position to strike. Safety first. I look at it as God saying, "All right Brent, I know how much you want to see a cool snake so because it is so rare and you won't see one likely again, let's get it out of the way." Thanks G!
Even the Cradle of Love Baby home where I volunteer (teaching the
director's 6 and 8 yr old daughters and playing with the 3 and under
crowd) is full of cool creatures. There are dozens of bats hanging out
in the half finished director's house where construction is on hold. On
Friday (the only day I didn't have my camera, we found a little
chameleon and played with it for almost an hour. Wow, they are so cool
with it's eyes moving independently and it changing colours while on my
shirt. I'm like a kid in a candy store. Today was monkey city. There was
a large troop of Vervet monkeys hanging around and several larger Blue
monkeys in the low trees and sometimes venturing to the ground but well back of the vervets. Here's some pictures...
Other random cool critters...
Buffalo Spider (looks venomous to me) and huge 7inch centipede in Zanzibar.
Well, that is a critter update galore and we haven't even gone on safari yet. I'm excited to be here as you can see. On a quick personal note, I am learning my daily commute to CoL and it has been interesting and exciting to be out there in local culture as the only 'mizungu' (white person) within sight. The locals are curious and very friendly most often. Our Swahili is coming slowly and we've just began weekly lessons for the next 10 weeks. It'll be nice to make more than just the most basic communication with the Tanzanian locals. Gabby and I are both settling into a routing now and it is very nice to come 'home' to the same place every night for the first time in a couple of months. Till next time...
Brent (and Gabby)
Saturday, 1 September 2012
We're in love!
So, here we are in our living room in Usa River after a Saturday morning of shopping in the market for our groceries. The birds are chirping in the banana trees and farmer's fields outside of us. Outside our living room window Mount Meru towers above us. Brent is drinking a Guinness (his prize find in a small local grocery store today) while Gabby, who has found many fellow wine-lovers among her, is sipping a French aged Riesling that has somehow made its way to the table in front of her. We love this place!
After two long days of busing (read:loud, dusty, cramped leg, body-odour, hot, nauseous), we were relieved to arrive in the dark to St Jude's Moshono campus in Arusha. The Moshono campus is where the primary (grades 1-7) classes are held, as well as the administrative hub. We stayed the night in their guest accommodation, and the next day our orientation was held with a gentle, friendly woman named Carmel. She took us around the whole campus and introduced us to everyone. What can we say about St Jude? It is like an extremely well-oiled, efficient machine. Everywhere you look, there are people bustling about their work, and they seem extremely enthusiastic and passionate about their job- whether they are a teacher or cook or secretary. It could be very well be our first experience with an NGO that is just as impressive in person as they are on their website. Needless to say, we were blown away.
Then we caught an afternoon bus to the Smith (Secondary) Campus in Usa River, which is about 20 km away from Arusha. It is quite a contrast to the other campus. Out in the countryside, it is cool and quiet, with a less bustling atmosphere. Don't get us wrong... it is still very much a well-oiled machine, but we were very happy to settle in to the quiet comfort and "country life" of Usa River! The beauty of our surroundings and the friendliness of our coworkers here have made us feel immediately at home.
Our accommodations here consist of an apartment with a bedroom, attached bathroom, and beautiful little living room with a couch, desk, bookshelf and coffee table. As we are on the corner block, we have windows on 3 sides of our place, which make it sunny and lovely during the day! (Not to mention the view of Mt Meru, which is just icing on the cake!). The communal kitchen is a place of fellowship, where we all gather in the evenings to cook and eat together, share stories and laugh. Our coworkers are mostly Aussies, with one Brit and two Americans. Aside from the two Americans who are in their twenties, most are over 50. We find them to be perfect company to us (especially Gabby) as they appreciate cooking, Scrabble, wine, and going to bed at 8:30.
Yesterday we went to visit Cradle of Love. Again, we were blown away by this well-functioning, passionate organization. The owner, Davona, is a woman full of heart and faith, and has poured herself into this ministry. We found ourselves staying much longer than we wanted to, saying "okay, I'll just hug one more baby. Okay, just one more..." The babies are like this throng of dwarves that follow you around everywhere with their arms out for a hug. It's all one can do to keep from melting. We also met the two girls that Brent will be teaching in the mornings. They are sweet and chatty little Tanzanian girls, with American accents. We think it will be a good fit, as they immediately clung to us and shared all the details of their lives as we started cleaning out the classroom.
To sum it up... we are in love with this place! Give us some time and the honeymoon will be over. But we are happy as clams here!
Till next time,
Gabby and Brent
ps- stay tuned for Brent's snake story!
After two long days of busing (read:loud, dusty, cramped leg, body-odour, hot, nauseous), we were relieved to arrive in the dark to St Jude's Moshono campus in Arusha. The Moshono campus is where the primary (grades 1-7) classes are held, as well as the administrative hub. We stayed the night in their guest accommodation, and the next day our orientation was held with a gentle, friendly woman named Carmel. She took us around the whole campus and introduced us to everyone. What can we say about St Jude? It is like an extremely well-oiled, efficient machine. Everywhere you look, there are people bustling about their work, and they seem extremely enthusiastic and passionate about their job- whether they are a teacher or cook or secretary. It could be very well be our first experience with an NGO that is just as impressive in person as they are on their website. Needless to say, we were blown away.
Then we caught an afternoon bus to the Smith (Secondary) Campus in Usa River, which is about 20 km away from Arusha. It is quite a contrast to the other campus. Out in the countryside, it is cool and quiet, with a less bustling atmosphere. Don't get us wrong... it is still very much a well-oiled machine, but we were very happy to settle in to the quiet comfort and "country life" of Usa River! The beauty of our surroundings and the friendliness of our coworkers here have made us feel immediately at home.
Our accommodations here consist of an apartment with a bedroom, attached bathroom, and beautiful little living room with a couch, desk, bookshelf and coffee table. As we are on the corner block, we have windows on 3 sides of our place, which make it sunny and lovely during the day! (Not to mention the view of Mt Meru, which is just icing on the cake!). The communal kitchen is a place of fellowship, where we all gather in the evenings to cook and eat together, share stories and laugh. Our coworkers are mostly Aussies, with one Brit and two Americans. Aside from the two Americans who are in their twenties, most are over 50. We find them to be perfect company to us (especially Gabby) as they appreciate cooking, Scrabble, wine, and going to bed at 8:30.
Yesterday we went to visit Cradle of Love. Again, we were blown away by this well-functioning, passionate organization. The owner, Davona, is a woman full of heart and faith, and has poured herself into this ministry. We found ourselves staying much longer than we wanted to, saying "okay, I'll just hug one more baby. Okay, just one more..." The babies are like this throng of dwarves that follow you around everywhere with their arms out for a hug. It's all one can do to keep from melting. We also met the two girls that Brent will be teaching in the mornings. They are sweet and chatty little Tanzanian girls, with American accents. We think it will be a good fit, as they immediately clung to us and shared all the details of their lives as we started cleaning out the classroom.
To sum it up... we are in love with this place! Give us some time and the honeymoon will be over. But we are happy as clams here!
Till next time,
Gabby and Brent
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)