Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Last night in Tanzania
Well, this is it. Tonight is the last night I will spend in Tanzania. What am I going to do? Probably just spend it packing and hanging out with Barkers listening to NPR on the satellite radio.
Last night was cool, however. I took Paul, Nora and Dorcas out to dinner at Addis in Dar, which is the Ethiopian restaurant near our house. Ethiopian food is so good. We had chicken, lamb, red snapper, lentils, chickpeas, and potatoes with tons of injera (it's kind of like a giant sourdough crepe that you use to pick up your food) and lots of spicy sauce. The food comes on a giant plate and everyone eats by tearing off pieces of injera and scooping up whatever they want with it. Occaisionally the plate is rotated so you can taste some of the hard-to-reach stuff on the other side. Who's up for finding an Ethiopian restaurant in Boston with me??
I'm doing a fine balancing act with my luggage. I have to keep track of weight (each piece can only weigh 23 kilos!) and make sure that all the breakable stuff is properly wrapped. I'm sticking most of my clothes and all the fabric I bought into my spare duffle bag and all the wooden carvings into my hard suitcase. Now I just have to go around the house accounting for all the things I might have left lying around that were subsiquently cleaned up by Maria, the housekeeper. She's rather brutally efficient when it comes to cleaning. I hope I can find everything.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Bagamoyo
The workshop is going well for the participants. It's almost entirely in Swahili, so I spend most of my time working on the manual and learning how to use the open source publishing software I downloaded. Also, I eat. We're fed four times a day by the hotel and then afterwards, everyone wants to go into town for dinner. Last night, Rama took Edson and myself out to dinner at a local restaurant. They totally had a whole skinned goat hanging from the ceiling next to the guy with whom we placed our orders. I don't think I've ever seen a whole animal skinned like that in real life before. It was kind of cool. Afterwards, I tried to explain the US food and safety system to Edson and we both had a good laugh.
We chose the kuku choma and grilled bananas, because the goat was too expensive. The chicken was as tough as I remember it and the grilled bananas are totally growing on me. I think we'll have to try it when I get back. Buy some green bananas and stick them on a grill. Trust me: it's awesome with vinegar and salt. (On a side note: 'kuku' means chicken and kaka means 'brother.' I've had this terrible fear that I'll address someone with "Habari gani, kuku?" So far it hasn't happened. I hope I haven't jinxed myself by telling you my secret. On another note: dada means 'sister' and 'baba' means father. Dilip, an intern from India, addressed an elderly gentleman with "Shikamoo, dada." I'm sad I wasn't there to see the man's expression...)
One of the Tanzanian interns bought me a bracelet today as a goodbye present. It made me feel bummed out, since it's now a visual reminder that I'm leaving soon. I have to keep from crying!
We chose the kuku choma and grilled bananas, because the goat was too expensive. The chicken was as tough as I remember it and the grilled bananas are totally growing on me. I think we'll have to try it when I get back. Buy some green bananas and stick them on a grill. Trust me: it's awesome with vinegar and salt. (On a side note: 'kuku' means chicken and kaka means 'brother.' I've had this terrible fear that I'll address someone with "Habari gani, kuku?" So far it hasn't happened. I hope I haven't jinxed myself by telling you my secret. On another note: dada means 'sister' and 'baba' means father. Dilip, an intern from India, addressed an elderly gentleman with "Shikamoo, dada." I'm sad I wasn't there to see the man's expression...)
One of the Tanzanian interns bought me a bracelet today as a goodbye present. It made me feel bummed out, since it's now a visual reminder that I'm leaving soon. I have to keep from crying!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Paul the Elder flew in on Tuesday night and Sally and Paul the Younger flew out late last night. I'll admit it was a little odd having a middle-aged woman as a roommate, but I have to say that I'll miss having her around. We would go biking and cook together and we had some good conversations. We cooked a big Welcome Back/Goodbye dinner last night. Actually, I should say, I cooked a big dinner and everyone else helped out a little. Sometimes I get a wee over-adventurous in the kitchen and have to shout for people to come help me. I made an Indian themed dinner, with butter chicken, vegetable masala, lentils and basmati rice. It was pretty awesome. The recipe for the lentils I traded with Prof. Asher for a biscuit recipe. I think we both got a good deal, since this is seriously the best lentil recipe I've tried to make.
Masala Massoor (Curried whole Lentils)
1 c massoor (green lentils)
2 sliced onions
2 large tomatoes
7-8 small onions
4 tbspn oil
1 tspn green coriander
Grind to paste:
8 cloves garlic
8 hot red chilies
2 tspn coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
ginger (1 -1.5 in piece)
Cook lentils and whole sliced onions in 2 cups water. Saute sliced onions (3 mins). Add paste, fry 3-4 minutes Add cooked massoor and salt. After 5 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Any vegetable or beans (black eyed or split peas) turn out well cooked this way.
I couldn't find coriander at all and the cumin I found in the spice rack was mysteriously covered in mold. Even without those spices, the dish was delicious.
Edson is in Mwanza for a few days trying to finalize arrangements for a CARE Canada retreat. I have the office to myself, which would be nicer if the power didn't keep going on and off. This does mean that I can listen to music while I work. I left my external hard drive in the US, so I don't have anything on my computer. I've been experimenting with online radio, with poor results. For some reason NPR is the only website I can get streaming music from. This is ok for now, but they don't have a big selection.
Sorry this is kind of a boring post. Not much has happened around here recently. I get to go back to Bagamoyo on Sunday for my final workshop. It was supposed to be in Zanzibar, but Ramadan is starting next week. Since Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, a workshop there is not a feasible idea. Bagamoyo is nice, though, it has beaches and large, clean hotels. It's not a bad place to have workshop, but it's definitely a poor substitute for Zanzibar.
Masala Massoor (Curried whole Lentils)
1 c massoor (green lentils)
2 sliced onions
2 large tomatoes
7-8 small onions
4 tbspn oil
1 tspn green coriander
Grind to paste:
8 cloves garlic
8 hot red chilies
2 tspn coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
ginger (1 -1.5 in piece)
Cook lentils and whole sliced onions in 2 cups water. Saute sliced onions (3 mins). Add paste, fry 3-4 minutes Add cooked massoor and salt. After 5 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Any vegetable or beans (black eyed or split peas) turn out well cooked this way.
I couldn't find coriander at all and the cumin I found in the spice rack was mysteriously covered in mold. Even without those spices, the dish was delicious.
Edson is in Mwanza for a few days trying to finalize arrangements for a CARE Canada retreat. I have the office to myself, which would be nicer if the power didn't keep going on and off. This does mean that I can listen to music while I work. I left my external hard drive in the US, so I don't have anything on my computer. I've been experimenting with online radio, with poor results. For some reason NPR is the only website I can get streaming music from. This is ok for now, but they don't have a big selection.
Sorry this is kind of a boring post. Not much has happened around here recently. I get to go back to Bagamoyo on Sunday for my final workshop. It was supposed to be in Zanzibar, but Ramadan is starting next week. Since Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, a workshop there is not a feasible idea. Bagamoyo is nice, though, it has beaches and large, clean hotels. It's not a bad place to have workshop, but it's definitely a poor substitute for Zanzibar.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sakare Forest and Bagamoyo
After I got back from the internet cafe on Thursday, I was informed that I couldn't go to the Amani nature preserve. They originally quoted an entry fee of 3000/= per person, which is what Dhahia, the woman in charge of conference logistics, budgeted for. That day they had informed her that that was the price for Tanzanians and all foreigners had to pay a fee of USD $30 (about 35,000/=). Anja and I had to go with the other group to Sakare Forest Reserve instead.
It turned out to be a wonderful experience, so I don't regret the transfer. The drive there was lovely: we passed by farmland most of the way and drove up into the mountains along narrow roads clinging to the sides of steep slopes. I suppose at one point the mountains were entirely covered with lush forest, but now it's been cut back into small isolated pockets. Everything else is planted in neat fields of peas, potatoes, and maize, with some of the plots reaching all the way to the peaks of the mountains. As the road wound higher up the mountains, we started to pass through tea plantations. We stopped to ask a group of women, who were plucking tea, about the plantations. It turns out the tea bushes were planted in the late 1920s, and the plantations have gone through the gamut of ownership: from private German owners to state socialism and now back to private ownership. One of the women said her family started working on the plantations back in the thirties when her grandfather moved there looking for work.
We came to an intersection with a group of men standing around. These were our guides up to the forest reserve. They rode on motorcycles and we followed them up a steep, deeply rutted road through a gate and passed several groups of guards. The gate and the guards are there to protect the forest, not from villagers looking to cut it down for fire wood, but from the owners of a near by tea plantation. The forest is currently being contested by a tea plantation which claims to have bought the land from the government. The villagers claim that the forest is rightly theirs, especially since they replanted most of trees lost to fire and deforestation. Tea requires a lot of wood to create smoke during the drying process and the plantation owners decided they wanted to cut their costs and not pay for the wood. The villagers, who are among Tanzania's poorest populations, see the wood as a valuable source of income. CARE and several partnering organizations have been involved with the community for several years now, teaching about the importance of conservation and biodiversity.
We've also taught the villagers about the many wonderful uses of the media, including how to air your problems out on a national level. The villagers made a documentary that was shown on a national news channel and have written many articles for newspapers and journals. Their plight finally caught the attention of the Prime Minister, who visited and came down on the side of the villagers. They are now awaiting a decision from the courts. Unless their is a massive case of corruption (not out of the question) the ruling should be in favor of the villagers, especially since the tea plantation's ownership papers are forged.
We went on a short hike around the forest to see their watershed conservation efforts. Then we went down to the eucalyptus farm that the villagers have planted. Eucalyptus grows very quickly and, when cut down properly, each stump sends out 10-12 shoots that can also be harvested in 5 years' time. The trees are poor for watershed conservation (what the CARE staff are really concerned about) but great for fire wood production (what the villagers care about). Finally, we went down to the nursery, where the villagers are growing local flora to replant the natural forest. During this part, one of the villagers found a chameleon among the plants:
On Saturday, we tried to leave for Dar around 8am. The land rover started making funny noises, so we dropped it off at a mechanic's and took a cab back to the hotel. It turned out to a be a problem with the air conditioning, but it still took several hours to find the right part and install it. We didn't get on the road until 10:30am. It took us 4 hours to get to the city and another hour to sit through traffic. Anja came home with me and we met up with Lise and Line at my house. Around 5pm we finally departed for Bagamoyo. The ride was very easy, though we were crammed into the dalla-dalla for most of the trip.
Our hotel was really nice. Our rooms were small huts only 30 feet from the ocean! We had a nice dinner and spent an hour or so sitting on the beach chatting with each other. I woke up the next morning to the sound of the waves on the beach. It was wonderful! We got a late start on the day, after playing around for a bit on the sand. We hired a guide to take us to the Kaole ruins, which were about 5km from the city proper. We walked the way there while it wasn't so hot and took a taxi back to Bagamoyo when we were done. The ruins are from the mosque of Kaole and several well preserved graves. The graves must have once been rather spectacular sites, but now were worn down and weathered looking. We spent the afternoon in town and took a dalla-dalla back to Dar around 4pm. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun. I wish I'd known it was so easy to get to Bagamoyo. I would have done it sooner!
It turned out to be a wonderful experience, so I don't regret the transfer. The drive there was lovely: we passed by farmland most of the way and drove up into the mountains along narrow roads clinging to the sides of steep slopes. I suppose at one point the mountains were entirely covered with lush forest, but now it's been cut back into small isolated pockets. Everything else is planted in neat fields of peas, potatoes, and maize, with some of the plots reaching all the way to the peaks of the mountains. As the road wound higher up the mountains, we started to pass through tea plantations. We stopped to ask a group of women, who were plucking tea, about the plantations. It turns out the tea bushes were planted in the late 1920s, and the plantations have gone through the gamut of ownership: from private German owners to state socialism and now back to private ownership. One of the women said her family started working on the plantations back in the thirties when her grandfather moved there looking for work.
We came to an intersection with a group of men standing around. These were our guides up to the forest reserve. They rode on motorcycles and we followed them up a steep, deeply rutted road through a gate and passed several groups of guards. The gate and the guards are there to protect the forest, not from villagers looking to cut it down for fire wood, but from the owners of a near by tea plantation. The forest is currently being contested by a tea plantation which claims to have bought the land from the government. The villagers claim that the forest is rightly theirs, especially since they replanted most of trees lost to fire and deforestation. Tea requires a lot of wood to create smoke during the drying process and the plantation owners decided they wanted to cut their costs and not pay for the wood. The villagers, who are among Tanzania's poorest populations, see the wood as a valuable source of income. CARE and several partnering organizations have been involved with the community for several years now, teaching about the importance of conservation and biodiversity.
We've also taught the villagers about the many wonderful uses of the media, including how to air your problems out on a national level. The villagers made a documentary that was shown on a national news channel and have written many articles for newspapers and journals. Their plight finally caught the attention of the Prime Minister, who visited and came down on the side of the villagers. They are now awaiting a decision from the courts. Unless their is a massive case of corruption (not out of the question) the ruling should be in favor of the villagers, especially since the tea plantation's ownership papers are forged.
We went on a short hike around the forest to see their watershed conservation efforts. Then we went down to the eucalyptus farm that the villagers have planted. Eucalyptus grows very quickly and, when cut down properly, each stump sends out 10-12 shoots that can also be harvested in 5 years' time. The trees are poor for watershed conservation (what the CARE staff are really concerned about) but great for fire wood production (what the villagers care about). Finally, we went down to the nursery, where the villagers are growing local flora to replant the natural forest. During this part, one of the villagers found a chameleon among the plants:
On Saturday, we tried to leave for Dar around 8am. The land rover started making funny noises, so we dropped it off at a mechanic's and took a cab back to the hotel. It turned out to a be a problem with the air conditioning, but it still took several hours to find the right part and install it. We didn't get on the road until 10:30am. It took us 4 hours to get to the city and another hour to sit through traffic. Anja came home with me and we met up with Lise and Line at my house. Around 5pm we finally departed for Bagamoyo. The ride was very easy, though we were crammed into the dalla-dalla for most of the trip.
Our hotel was really nice. Our rooms were small huts only 30 feet from the ocean! We had a nice dinner and spent an hour or so sitting on the beach chatting with each other. I woke up the next morning to the sound of the waves on the beach. It was wonderful! We got a late start on the day, after playing around for a bit on the sand. We hired a guide to take us to the Kaole ruins, which were about 5km from the city proper. We walked the way there while it wasn't so hot and took a taxi back to Bagamoyo when we were done. The ruins are from the mosque of Kaole and several well preserved graves. The graves must have once been rather spectacular sites, but now were worn down and weathered looking. We spent the afternoon in town and took a dalla-dalla back to Dar around 4pm. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun. I wish I'd known it was so easy to get to Bagamoyo. I would have done it sooner!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Land of Milk and Cement
I'm at an internet cafe in Tanga right now, which is about 200 miles north of Dar. It's not a tourist destination and is well known in Tanzania for three things: its cement factory, dairy, and a cave which supposedly goes all the way to Mombasa. That's about all I can say about the place. The hotel I'm in looks very nice, but on closer inspection, none of the things actually work. My shower, toilet, tv and lamps do not function as they should. I moved out of the first room they put me in thinking things would be better. They were not, and it turns out that the previous occupant was Joyce, one of the workshop participants. They moved her to another room and moved me in without fixing anything. That night, they moved Aba into the room I was in previously, without fixing anything. I guess they figure if we're moved around enough, we'll stop complaining? What a dump. Half of the group is staying at another hotel, which isn't as nice looking, but everything functions. Normally, I wouldn't complain, but CARE's paying 40,000/= a night for our rooms. That's what many Tanzanian's make in a month. If you're going to charge a month's salary for something, it better be really f***ing nice. Meh.
The workshop is going nicely. I was brought along as the note taker, and I'm getting most things down. Sometimes I'm overcome with boredom and have to play a game or two of minesweeper, but otherwise, the workshop is well documented. Tomorrow we are all going out to visit field sites. I get to go to Amani, where they are apparently raising exotic butterflies for collectors around the world. I'm definitely bringing my camera along!
We're heading out early on Saturday morning. Anja (pronounced Anya), my new Danish friend, and I are going to meet up with Lise and Line in Dar. The plan is to catch a late dalla-dalla to Bagamoyo and spend the night. There are neat ruins and a museum about the slave trade there. Sunday is Lise's birthday and we'll probably celebrate by going to the wonderful Ethiopian restaurant near my house. I'm looking forward to it!
The workshop is going nicely. I was brought along as the note taker, and I'm getting most things down. Sometimes I'm overcome with boredom and have to play a game or two of minesweeper, but otherwise, the workshop is well documented. Tomorrow we are all going out to visit field sites. I get to go to Amani, where they are apparently raising exotic butterflies for collectors around the world. I'm definitely bringing my camera along!
We're heading out early on Saturday morning. Anja (pronounced Anya), my new Danish friend, and I are going to meet up with Lise and Line in Dar. The plan is to catch a late dalla-dalla to Bagamoyo and spend the night. There are neat ruins and a museum about the slave trade there. Sunday is Lise's birthday and we'll probably celebrate by going to the wonderful Ethiopian restaurant near my house. I'm looking forward to it!
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