I have arrived safely in Arusha and have found a decent internet connection to be able to upload some pictures. I guess I should be reflecting on my time here so far, considering I only have 4 weeks left . . . but I don’t think I will. It’s hard to always remember the small little things, like the man that shared his homemade chiapati with me on the bus yesterday, or the way Rose’s face is so beautiful when she smiles, or the way Yona would laugh when I shuffled a deck of cards. This has been a really crazy and amazing experience for me so far. Today someone asked me why I don’t just go home early after Tim leaves. I was kind of bewildered . . . ‘For what?’ was my reply. So yes, I am enjoying it here a lot. Sometimes I need to be reminded to smile or take a deep breath, but generally and typically it’s so great. Tim arrived last night and it was nice to have someone from home visiting, someone that I can show around a little bit and impress with my small Swahili vocabulary. Plus in the hotel last night I sat down on a toilet for the first time in a LONG time and it was amazing. I also found that I have not lost my tendency to take long hot showers . . . some things never change. I have no idea what kind of connection I have for the next 10 days OR what I will be doing after that, but here is my general itinerary:
Feb 25 – I arrive via bus from Dar es Salaam and Tim arrives to Kilimanjaro Airport. We meet at the African Tulip hotel.
Feb 26 – free day to walk around Arusha and let Tim get used to the time change
Feb 27 –Tarangire National Park
Feb 28 – Lake Manyara
Feb 29 – Mar 2 Serengeti National Park
Mar 3 – Ndutu Area
Mar 4 – Ngorogoro Crater
Mar 5 – descend Crater and return to Arusha
Mar 6 – rest
Mar 7 – Tim leaves and for me?????
I hope everyone is doing well. And Maddy, no, I have NOT forgotten about you. Is that even possible? I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. Please don't miss the 10 pictures I just posted in previous entries.
Love,
Ann
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Pictures Part Deux
This is a picture of a traditional Arab door in Zanzibar. They have African doors and Arab doors, with differences related to the shape, design and decoration. The Arab doors, for example, are all curved at the top, have some kind of Arabic phrase and have a decoration of chains meant to ward off bad spirits. As with anything culturally and historically significant, these doors are being sold off on black markets around the world.
This is the one hand that I had henna done to. I also had the palm of my right hand done. I love it and think it is so decorative and beautiful. Traditionally it is done right before a wedding.
I took this picture at sunset in Zanzibar. The water there was so stunning, all shades of turquoise blues and greens and perfectly see-through. I had a really nice time at the beaches there, but it was definitely the most touristy place I had seen so far. The beaches only had white tourists. It’s a Muslim island so you definitely have to be aware of how you are dressing and behaving. One woman was topless and it seemed so stupid and careless, considering all the Zanzibari women were walking around fully covered with headscarves.
This is my dear little Irene. She is the 6-year old daughter of Gasper and Rose. She would just sit next to me for hours and chatter in Swahili, regardless of whether or not I understood her. She NEVER stopped talking or touching me. Sometimes she would get out a pick and do my hair. I loved her so much and cried when I left her.
In Morogoro the TAWE women took me up to one of the villages to visit a sub-chapter, a group of women making pottery by hand. I always enjoy my short visits to the village because I get to see how most people are living and I get a better sense of ‘real life.’ Children are my favorite people to watch and they are always so curious and sweet.
Pictures
I took this picture in Morogoro while visiting the women in the village. These are tools used for making pottery, including a corn cob and piece of a calabash for smoothing out bowls. I liked how the light was hitting it.
This is also in Morogoro at the village. We stopped at one woman’s house and I liked how her items looked hanging outside.
This is a view of Morogoro at sunset from Rose and Gasper’s house. It was so breathtakingly beautiful, but once the sun goes down here it goes down so quickly. I had to hurry to get these pictures.
This is a picture of Rose and Christine. Rose was my host in Morogoro but I spent a lot of time with these women and really loved being with them.
This is a picture of Morogoro. It is very beautiful there with the town located at the foot of the mountains. It is raining season so it always looks like the clouds are kissing the mountains. I think this is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Tanzania so far.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Morogoro and Beyond
OKAY, so, it’s been awhile since I have written and for that I am very sorry. Probably sorrier than you the reader are . . . do you know what it’s like to have over a week without decent internet access? It’s hard . . . very hard. So I had planned on starting this blog entry off with a good discussion of what I had done in the past 10 days . . . but then Mama Loyce and I went out to dinner tonight and her and I got into a discussion, which morphed into an argument, which anywhere else would qualify as a fight. With the outcome being that our car ride home was very very quiet. Maybe I haven’t talked about Loyce as much as I should, and maybe when I say that she is difficult you the readers haven’t understood how much of an understatement that could be at times (but please also realize that she can be very very generous and kind too). But so we were out at dinner tonight talking about my time in Dodoma and Morogoro and I made that statement that I hated the term mzungu (see my last post) and that I had asked the women in the other cities to not call me that. And anyway, we had a lot of back and forth (her calling me childish and me calling her ridiculous). A high point was when she said I could survey those women later and they would all say they hated me (what?!?!). But anyway, it just reinforces this point for me that Mzungu is not a nice term. It’s a term used by people who don’t have the education or care to learn someone’s name. Her argument was that it is the culture . . . but as I have seen many many times here, culture eventually becomes a crutch for people. They don’t risk, or change, or grow, because culture does not allow it. So anyway . . . not sure where I was planning to go with that tonight, but it has me so annoyed. I feel like I have tried so hard here to conform to culture – eat the way you want me to, talk the way you want me to, sleep and live and shit the way you want me to . . . all without complaints and nothing but a genuine smile. So if my one complaint is that people practice a bit of racism here, I think it’s a valid complaint that should be entertained? Yes? No?
OKAY . . . so starting with Friday, February 13, 2009. This was my last day in Dodoma with the TAWE women and it was definitely a hectic day. In the morning I had dropped off a khanga at the tailor. As stated before, I needed another khanga like I needed a holw in the head – so I decided to get this new fabric turned into a skirt. So I went to the tailor in the morning and dropped another fabric off with some vague instructions of having some kind of pencil skirt design made. Then I went right away to the internet café to work on my portion of the FOT grant that I had been working on with the Dodoma women. So my instruction to them had been that they had to fill in two sections themselves (history and banking info) and that I would fill in most of the 3rd section myself. Once we had some more info we could finalize the third section and then submit. So I had high expectations (or so I thought) to complete my part. I spent the entire morning doing some research and the finally writing my pieces. I had set a 2:00 meeting to go over everything with the chapter, but in the end no one really showed up. It was kind of a disappointment but not totally unexpected. It has been like this the entire way. Happy met me after and we went to the tailor to pick up my skirt – but he was taking too long. We made him promise to finish it by 9:00am the next morning and then left to talk home. In the evening Grace took Happy and I to a Send-off party with her. I can’t remember how much of this I have discussed before, but here is some more info – for women there are three major events prior and during marriage celebrations. First there is the Kitchen Party. This is an event where the bride is attended to by all of her female friends and family members. The women speak in general terms of how the woman should adjust to married life and how she should please her man. In addition to this event the bride-to-be is matched with an elder woman. The elder woman spends a lot of time with her talking about very private things, such as sex and what it entails and how to please a man. I should stress that this is considered a very private event and no one talks about what occurs during this time so I can’t say for sure. I think in this time period it might be outdated since most women are not virgins, but in village settings it is very useful where women still have no idea what takes place during sex or what the mechanics include. The second event is the Send-off. This is attended by the bride-to-be and her future husband, though he sits in the audience and is generally indistinguishable. This is basically the party where her family prepares to send her off to her husband’s family. There is an exchange of gifts and it’s a very long event. The woman is not supposed to smile or laugh. In fact, she kind of has to act scared at the prospect of leaving her family. The final event is the wedding. But all three events are of equal importance and the family and family friends spend a lot of money on these things. All three events have MCs and halls and cakes and food and drinks. It’s kind of crazy. . . so I’ve digressed. But anyway I went to a Send-off. It was interesting to see and learn about but the most important thing I took away was that it is TOO LONG. I was there for 6 hours. I tell you . . . too much.
On Saturday, February 14 (also known as Valentine’s Day) was on a bus to Morogoro. So my time in Dodoma was over. I try not to reflect too often on whether or not I did any good. I think I know the answer to that and it’s kind of unsettling. So Saturday morning I got up early, went to the tailor to pick up my last remaining skirt, and then Atu, Grace, and Happy took me to the bus station. It was hard to leave them – it is always hard to leave. I tend to find my time a bit mystifying, exhausting and overwhelming, but in the end its terribly hard to be so welcomed into someone’s home, learn all about their struggles and triumphs, and then have to leave. Perhaps that is what makes me the most tired, all the leaving. I need some stability here people. So the bus ride was uneventful. There were a few members and staff from Parliament on the bus, some that I had met at the music event the previous week with Mama Kiyah’s band. So I felt in okay hands. And, as usual, a bus ride that was to take only 2 ½ hours took like 4. I am getting used to this now but sometimes its still frustrating. Waiting to pick me up at the Morogoro bus station where my Morogoro hosts, Rose and Christine. Just a bit of info, Christine is a Tanzanian women married to a Dutch man (meaning $$$$) and Rose is the youngest TAWE member at 30. So they picked me up and drove me to Rose’s home. So there are many things I cannot completely go into here because I don’t want these women to know how much I could expose or how much I have learned, but let me say that nothing is what it appears on the surface. They took me to Rose’s house where she lives with her husband and 6-year old daughter Irene. Irene, who later becamse the hardest person EVER to leave, is the sweetest silliest little girl ever. My visit was defined by her just sitting next to me on the floor chatting in Swahili in hours. I would often have to stop her with ‘beautiful little girl, you know I don’t understand you.’ To which she would rightly reply ‘But why Auntie?’ ‘Because I don’t speak Swahili . . .’ ‘But why Auntie?’ which in afterthought is perhaps the best question possible. The morning I had to leave Irene I cried like I had not cried in a long time. So in some respects Rose’s home was much nicer than others. She had an actual shower, though the water was very dirty and very cold. And she had a toilet (hole in the floor) that had a flusher. Morogoro also had a ton or fruits and vegetables. Finally, Morogoro was beautiful. Kind of tropical, set in the mountains with a lot of green plants. Besides of the islands of Dar, probably the most beautiful place I had sent yet in Tanzania. Rose is also the most beautiful Tanzanian woman I had seen so far, and her husband Gasper was definitely the best looking man I had seen too. So I spent the night with the family just settling in. I had attempted to watch a movie but Irene would NOT stop talking. At one point she brought out a pick and was doing my hair. I swear, do all 6-year olds talk that much? I have no idea.
On Sunday morning the entire family took me and a sister-in-law and child to the Mikumi National Park. I was happy to do ths because I had read about it and heard it was a nice little place to visit. I was totally wrong about how great it was. Right away we say tons of animals, including elephants, gazelles, zebras, buffalo and giraffe. On top of that we saw a lion, crocodiles, and hippos. We took a cake that I had brought with me from Dodoma (courtesy of Grace) and we had some sodas and had just a nice little day relaxing. Something to mention. I have found in Africa that family children or neighbor children are your children. So on this trip I had Irene and her two-year old cousin Soneeia. And I love children. So basically I spent the entire trip with a child or two on my lap. We had a few adults squeezed into the back of the car, so I only felt it was fair that I had one or both children in the front seat on my lap. It was really nice for me, probably one of the few times I have felt like a mother or very domestic since I have been here. I think it also helped keep me from missing my nephews too much. So we did the tour in the park and I got a lot of great picture and had a really nice time. And then on the way home I sat in the back and had Soneeia lying asleep across my legs (welcome to Africa car child safety) and then Irene was tucked under my left arm sound asleep. It was a nice feeling for me and I tried my best to make them comfortable.
On Monday I went with Christine, a TAWE Dodoma member. She is married to a Dutch man and has two very successful bars in the area. She is a truly WONDERFUL woman. She has this extraordinary energy and she brings life to everything. Being with her made me so happy and made me laugh so much. We spent all morning on Monday just talking about her life and about Tanzanian women and how much they struggle. And as always I learned a lot. In the afternoon I had lunch with her and her son and his fiancé. I wont go into too much detail since I have os much to write, but Christine is an amazing woman and I wish more people (myself included) had her energy and love for life. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent meeting with different women and learning about their businesses. I spent some time with a Mama who raises kukus (chickens) for eggs, a Mama who has a small shop selling khangas, and a few meetings with all the leadership. I have to say, this has been the most impressive group of TAWE women so far. They are much more ‘village’ than the Dar women yet they do so much with what they have. One Mama has several hundred acres that she is farming and hopes to buy a tractor, another has several of her own businesses, another does this and another does that. They are trying to start their own sub-chapter and they are trying to start their own business together as a chapter (selling fish). In all I have seen so much more participation. One thing to remark on for Wednesday afternoon. I had an event with the entire chapter and it was really neat. So they call contributed money to buy food and then one Mama spent the entire day preparing. In the afternoon we had chicken, vegetables, potatoes and chili. I was introduced to the entire chapter, we had some speeches (myself included), some dancing (reluctantly I was involved) and then some giftgiving (where I was the only receipient). It is incredible how gracious and kind these women are. I received a khanga and a traditional food cover. I showed my appreciation by dancing a bit and shaking my hips to make everyone laugh. While we were dancing Christine happened to share with me that she wears ushangas. Ushangas are a tradition of the Kitchen Party. Ushangas are beaded jewelry that you wear around your hips. They are big enough that they don’t fall off of you, but small enough that you hardly notice and are comfortable. So Chrstine had some and in a moment of dancing showed them off. I just loved them. So later they told me all about them, how at your Kitchen party your family and friends give you a ton and how on your wedding night your stomach and hips are decorated in beads. Then, depending on tribe, you wear them forever. So I fell in love with the idea. I am a total feminist, but the idea of having something that no one sees but your love is pretty powerful. Christine and I talked about them and in the end her gift to me was a set of two Ushangas which I have now worn around my hips for several days. And I love them.
On Thursday I finished up my trip to Morogoro and the TAWE women took me into the village to meet a group of women who also make their own pottery (similar to Dodoma). It was an interesting experience for me and I always love to see how people outside of the large cities live. I love to see the children and the houses and just watch. I had on TAWE member remark that I was not paying attention to ‘the program.’ This kind of made me angry and I took a few minutes to stop and think about it and then went back to her and explained that as long as they women were working to make money to improve their lives, then yes, their children and their homes were just as important as their pottery.
On Friday morning I prepared to leave Morogoro. So I have no spoken a lot about Rose, my host, but I truly loved her. She is the TAWE member closest to my age and one of the sweetest women ever. Most of the time she is far away, her mind always working on some problem or stressing on something. But no matter what she had the best smile ever. In some ways I felt very far away from her and in others we were as close as can be. But on Friday morning we went to visit Irene at school so that I could say goodbye. I stood in front of the class as all 35 children said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ in English. It was all very sweet and I loved it, but it was awful to have to bend down and tell Irene how beautiful she was and how much I was going to miss her and how much I loved her. As I stood up Rose and I held hands and we went outside and cried and hugged each other.
I can’t even begin to explain it, but it was so hard. I spend the rest of the day, including after I got on the bus, alternating between laughing and crying with Rose. I will love that family so much, as much as I have loved all of these other women as well.
I arrived in Dar in the afternoon and was taken to Loyce;s house. I have to say, Loyce annoys the shit out of me but she is reliable and predictable and comfortable. As we pulled up to her house I saw Edina outside and was just so happy to be ‘home’ and have something I recognized. When Loyce got home I convinced her to travel with me to Zanzibar the following morning. So Loyce and I spent Sat Feb 21 – Mon Feb 23 in Zanzibar. I can probably go into it a lot more, but I had a pretty decent time. At some points I regretted having gone with her (like when she orders me around) and at other times I was very grateful (like when she can negotiate a good rate or explain things to me). We took the ferry to Zanzibar and then took some shared transport north to Kendwa where we spent two nights sleeping in a bungalow and the days swimming on the beach. Another bonus for me, Loyce does not know how to swim. So if I got annoyed, I just went swimming.
So it is now Monday and I have just returned from Zanzibar. I have found myself to be a bit cranky lately and I hope I come out of it soon. I think I just miss showers and toilets and clean water and air conditioning and just feeling clean. But these are all minor complaints because I AM HAVING A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE. Sometimes it is hard for me to recognize that and sometimes I don’t even see it, but every once in awhile when I can step back and absorb what I am doing, I can see how truly powerful this experience is. It’s hard to believe that I am heading home in almost 4 weeks!
So tomorrow is a rest day and then I hard to Arusha on a bus (which is supposed to take like 8 hours but knowing Africa it will take like 12). At that point Tim will arrive from the states and we will have a nice 8 days visiting the northern circuit of Tanzania, including the Serengeti, Ngorogoro crater and Lake Manyara. I am thinking that this taste of luxury and relaxation will help get some of my energy back and I’ll be ready to tackle the last 2 ½ weeks of my visit.
I hope everyone is doing well. I had some nice emails from Brenda and Maya, so thanks for that. I also had an amazing call from my best friend Casey Stell. It was a short call but very uplifting and I was so happy to hear from her. Take care and be well. I will be on true Safari for the next week or so and I cannot guarantee a good entry until afterwards!
Love,
Ann
OKAY . . . so starting with Friday, February 13, 2009. This was my last day in Dodoma with the TAWE women and it was definitely a hectic day. In the morning I had dropped off a khanga at the tailor. As stated before, I needed another khanga like I needed a holw in the head – so I decided to get this new fabric turned into a skirt. So I went to the tailor in the morning and dropped another fabric off with some vague instructions of having some kind of pencil skirt design made. Then I went right away to the internet café to work on my portion of the FOT grant that I had been working on with the Dodoma women. So my instruction to them had been that they had to fill in two sections themselves (history and banking info) and that I would fill in most of the 3rd section myself. Once we had some more info we could finalize the third section and then submit. So I had high expectations (or so I thought) to complete my part. I spent the entire morning doing some research and the finally writing my pieces. I had set a 2:00 meeting to go over everything with the chapter, but in the end no one really showed up. It was kind of a disappointment but not totally unexpected. It has been like this the entire way. Happy met me after and we went to the tailor to pick up my skirt – but he was taking too long. We made him promise to finish it by 9:00am the next morning and then left to talk home. In the evening Grace took Happy and I to a Send-off party with her. I can’t remember how much of this I have discussed before, but here is some more info – for women there are three major events prior and during marriage celebrations. First there is the Kitchen Party. This is an event where the bride is attended to by all of her female friends and family members. The women speak in general terms of how the woman should adjust to married life and how she should please her man. In addition to this event the bride-to-be is matched with an elder woman. The elder woman spends a lot of time with her talking about very private things, such as sex and what it entails and how to please a man. I should stress that this is considered a very private event and no one talks about what occurs during this time so I can’t say for sure. I think in this time period it might be outdated since most women are not virgins, but in village settings it is very useful where women still have no idea what takes place during sex or what the mechanics include. The second event is the Send-off. This is attended by the bride-to-be and her future husband, though he sits in the audience and is generally indistinguishable. This is basically the party where her family prepares to send her off to her husband’s family. There is an exchange of gifts and it’s a very long event. The woman is not supposed to smile or laugh. In fact, she kind of has to act scared at the prospect of leaving her family. The final event is the wedding. But all three events are of equal importance and the family and family friends spend a lot of money on these things. All three events have MCs and halls and cakes and food and drinks. It’s kind of crazy. . . so I’ve digressed. But anyway I went to a Send-off. It was interesting to see and learn about but the most important thing I took away was that it is TOO LONG. I was there for 6 hours. I tell you . . . too much.
On Saturday, February 14 (also known as Valentine’s Day) was on a bus to Morogoro. So my time in Dodoma was over. I try not to reflect too often on whether or not I did any good. I think I know the answer to that and it’s kind of unsettling. So Saturday morning I got up early, went to the tailor to pick up my last remaining skirt, and then Atu, Grace, and Happy took me to the bus station. It was hard to leave them – it is always hard to leave. I tend to find my time a bit mystifying, exhausting and overwhelming, but in the end its terribly hard to be so welcomed into someone’s home, learn all about their struggles and triumphs, and then have to leave. Perhaps that is what makes me the most tired, all the leaving. I need some stability here people. So the bus ride was uneventful. There were a few members and staff from Parliament on the bus, some that I had met at the music event the previous week with Mama Kiyah’s band. So I felt in okay hands. And, as usual, a bus ride that was to take only 2 ½ hours took like 4. I am getting used to this now but sometimes its still frustrating. Waiting to pick me up at the Morogoro bus station where my Morogoro hosts, Rose and Christine. Just a bit of info, Christine is a Tanzanian women married to a Dutch man (meaning $$$$) and Rose is the youngest TAWE member at 30. So they picked me up and drove me to Rose’s home. So there are many things I cannot completely go into here because I don’t want these women to know how much I could expose or how much I have learned, but let me say that nothing is what it appears on the surface. They took me to Rose’s house where she lives with her husband and 6-year old daughter Irene. Irene, who later becamse the hardest person EVER to leave, is the sweetest silliest little girl ever. My visit was defined by her just sitting next to me on the floor chatting in Swahili in hours. I would often have to stop her with ‘beautiful little girl, you know I don’t understand you.’ To which she would rightly reply ‘But why Auntie?’ ‘Because I don’t speak Swahili . . .’ ‘But why Auntie?’ which in afterthought is perhaps the best question possible. The morning I had to leave Irene I cried like I had not cried in a long time. So in some respects Rose’s home was much nicer than others. She had an actual shower, though the water was very dirty and very cold. And she had a toilet (hole in the floor) that had a flusher. Morogoro also had a ton or fruits and vegetables. Finally, Morogoro was beautiful. Kind of tropical, set in the mountains with a lot of green plants. Besides of the islands of Dar, probably the most beautiful place I had sent yet in Tanzania. Rose is also the most beautiful Tanzanian woman I had seen so far, and her husband Gasper was definitely the best looking man I had seen too. So I spent the night with the family just settling in. I had attempted to watch a movie but Irene would NOT stop talking. At one point she brought out a pick and was doing my hair. I swear, do all 6-year olds talk that much? I have no idea.
On Sunday morning the entire family took me and a sister-in-law and child to the Mikumi National Park. I was happy to do ths because I had read about it and heard it was a nice little place to visit. I was totally wrong about how great it was. Right away we say tons of animals, including elephants, gazelles, zebras, buffalo and giraffe. On top of that we saw a lion, crocodiles, and hippos. We took a cake that I had brought with me from Dodoma (courtesy of Grace) and we had some sodas and had just a nice little day relaxing. Something to mention. I have found in Africa that family children or neighbor children are your children. So on this trip I had Irene and her two-year old cousin Soneeia. And I love children. So basically I spent the entire trip with a child or two on my lap. We had a few adults squeezed into the back of the car, so I only felt it was fair that I had one or both children in the front seat on my lap. It was really nice for me, probably one of the few times I have felt like a mother or very domestic since I have been here. I think it also helped keep me from missing my nephews too much. So we did the tour in the park and I got a lot of great picture and had a really nice time. And then on the way home I sat in the back and had Soneeia lying asleep across my legs (welcome to Africa car child safety) and then Irene was tucked under my left arm sound asleep. It was a nice feeling for me and I tried my best to make them comfortable.
On Monday I went with Christine, a TAWE Dodoma member. She is married to a Dutch man and has two very successful bars in the area. She is a truly WONDERFUL woman. She has this extraordinary energy and she brings life to everything. Being with her made me so happy and made me laugh so much. We spent all morning on Monday just talking about her life and about Tanzanian women and how much they struggle. And as always I learned a lot. In the afternoon I had lunch with her and her son and his fiancé. I wont go into too much detail since I have os much to write, but Christine is an amazing woman and I wish more people (myself included) had her energy and love for life. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent meeting with different women and learning about their businesses. I spent some time with a Mama who raises kukus (chickens) for eggs, a Mama who has a small shop selling khangas, and a few meetings with all the leadership. I have to say, this has been the most impressive group of TAWE women so far. They are much more ‘village’ than the Dar women yet they do so much with what they have. One Mama has several hundred acres that she is farming and hopes to buy a tractor, another has several of her own businesses, another does this and another does that. They are trying to start their own sub-chapter and they are trying to start their own business together as a chapter (selling fish). In all I have seen so much more participation. One thing to remark on for Wednesday afternoon. I had an event with the entire chapter and it was really neat. So they call contributed money to buy food and then one Mama spent the entire day preparing. In the afternoon we had chicken, vegetables, potatoes and chili. I was introduced to the entire chapter, we had some speeches (myself included), some dancing (reluctantly I was involved) and then some giftgiving (where I was the only receipient). It is incredible how gracious and kind these women are. I received a khanga and a traditional food cover. I showed my appreciation by dancing a bit and shaking my hips to make everyone laugh. While we were dancing Christine happened to share with me that she wears ushangas. Ushangas are a tradition of the Kitchen Party. Ushangas are beaded jewelry that you wear around your hips. They are big enough that they don’t fall off of you, but small enough that you hardly notice and are comfortable. So Chrstine had some and in a moment of dancing showed them off. I just loved them. So later they told me all about them, how at your Kitchen party your family and friends give you a ton and how on your wedding night your stomach and hips are decorated in beads. Then, depending on tribe, you wear them forever. So I fell in love with the idea. I am a total feminist, but the idea of having something that no one sees but your love is pretty powerful. Christine and I talked about them and in the end her gift to me was a set of two Ushangas which I have now worn around my hips for several days. And I love them.
On Thursday I finished up my trip to Morogoro and the TAWE women took me into the village to meet a group of women who also make their own pottery (similar to Dodoma). It was an interesting experience for me and I always love to see how people outside of the large cities live. I love to see the children and the houses and just watch. I had on TAWE member remark that I was not paying attention to ‘the program.’ This kind of made me angry and I took a few minutes to stop and think about it and then went back to her and explained that as long as they women were working to make money to improve their lives, then yes, their children and their homes were just as important as their pottery.
On Friday morning I prepared to leave Morogoro. So I have no spoken a lot about Rose, my host, but I truly loved her. She is the TAWE member closest to my age and one of the sweetest women ever. Most of the time she is far away, her mind always working on some problem or stressing on something. But no matter what she had the best smile ever. In some ways I felt very far away from her and in others we were as close as can be. But on Friday morning we went to visit Irene at school so that I could say goodbye. I stood in front of the class as all 35 children said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ in English. It was all very sweet and I loved it, but it was awful to have to bend down and tell Irene how beautiful she was and how much I was going to miss her and how much I loved her. As I stood up Rose and I held hands and we went outside and cried and hugged each other.
I can’t even begin to explain it, but it was so hard. I spend the rest of the day, including after I got on the bus, alternating between laughing and crying with Rose. I will love that family so much, as much as I have loved all of these other women as well.
I arrived in Dar in the afternoon and was taken to Loyce;s house. I have to say, Loyce annoys the shit out of me but she is reliable and predictable and comfortable. As we pulled up to her house I saw Edina outside and was just so happy to be ‘home’ and have something I recognized. When Loyce got home I convinced her to travel with me to Zanzibar the following morning. So Loyce and I spent Sat Feb 21 – Mon Feb 23 in Zanzibar. I can probably go into it a lot more, but I had a pretty decent time. At some points I regretted having gone with her (like when she orders me around) and at other times I was very grateful (like when she can negotiate a good rate or explain things to me). We took the ferry to Zanzibar and then took some shared transport north to Kendwa where we spent two nights sleeping in a bungalow and the days swimming on the beach. Another bonus for me, Loyce does not know how to swim. So if I got annoyed, I just went swimming.
So it is now Monday and I have just returned from Zanzibar. I have found myself to be a bit cranky lately and I hope I come out of it soon. I think I just miss showers and toilets and clean water and air conditioning and just feeling clean. But these are all minor complaints because I AM HAVING A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE. Sometimes it is hard for me to recognize that and sometimes I don’t even see it, but every once in awhile when I can step back and absorb what I am doing, I can see how truly powerful this experience is. It’s hard to believe that I am heading home in almost 4 weeks!
So tomorrow is a rest day and then I hard to Arusha on a bus (which is supposed to take like 8 hours but knowing Africa it will take like 12). At that point Tim will arrive from the states and we will have a nice 8 days visiting the northern circuit of Tanzania, including the Serengeti, Ngorogoro crater and Lake Manyara. I am thinking that this taste of luxury and relaxation will help get some of my energy back and I’ll be ready to tackle the last 2 ½ weeks of my visit.
I hope everyone is doing well. I had some nice emails from Brenda and Maya, so thanks for that. I also had an amazing call from my best friend Casey Stell. It was a short call but very uplifting and I was so happy to hear from her. Take care and be well. I will be on true Safari for the next week or so and I cannot guarantee a good entry until afterwards!
Love,
Ann
Friday, February 13, 2009
Mzungu what?
Hi everyone! It's been almost a week since my last post and I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to Casey and Jennifer for the celebrity gossip. I just spent about 15 minutes on dlisted.com getting my fix. . . PLEASE see below for some more pictures. Life has been interesting here in Dodoma. Let me start with a rundown of all my activities since we last met. On Saturday morning Happy invited me to come visit her home and meet her family. A small aside on Happy - she is like my best friend here. She is the only TAWE member I have met who is remotely close to my age (she is 34) and she is just so kind and her family welcomed me into their home so warmly. We behave like sisters, holding hands when we walk and all the Mamas know that they should bring Happy along for me when they take me on errands. Being close in age we also are responsible for carrying the Mama's bags, for cleaning up after guests, for serving tea, and all other activities that the youngest people are required to do. Unlike most of the other women in the TAWE Dodoma chapter, Happy is a bush-girl. She lives far outside of town and must make the long trip into down each day. She stopped over at Atu's house (my house) Saturday morning and then we talked into town to the dala-dala station. So the annoying thing about dala-dalas is that they don't leave until they are completely full, and by completely full I mean there are at least 18 people sitting and 4-5 people standing. So if you get to the dala-dala station and there is only standing room left, you will probably want to wait until that bus leaves and another one arrives - AND then you have to wait for the new one to fill up. So it kind of makes sense that things don't run on a real time table here. We waited about 30 minutes and then jumped into a dala-dala. We also had Grace's son TJ with us, taking him out to the village to play with Happy's kids. The dala-dala ride was about 20 minutes north of town. We jumped out and then walked another 20 minutes down a bad dirt road to her home. Happy has a decent amount of land where she grows corns, beans, and rice and she also raises cows for milk. She lives with her mother (Mama), her two children, her brother's children, and some other random family members that live in the concession outside. Her home is very very basic, though she does have electricity and running water. Happy is, well, happy, but she struggle A LOT. It really annoys me to see TAWE wanting to work with Ihumwa so eagerly when some of their own members need some training and grant money. Happy's youngest son, Abraham, just started school this year and she is still struggling with a way to pay the school fees for both kids. She comes into town randomly to meet with people and ask to borrow money from friends, but not much help has come her way. I had some of Happy's milk when I was visiting her home and it was delicious. I don't think I have ever had milk as fresh as that. Myuji, the village where Happy lives, also hosts a ton of missionaries. Right next to her home is an orphanage and we stopped in. There are Catholic Sisters who take care of 52 children, ranging in age from newborn to teenager. It was a neat place. Happy asked them something like this - 'Sister, you have no boyfriend, no man, and no children. How can you manage to love these children as your own.' And the Sister replied 'God has given me the will to love them.' They were just very very sweet women and the children seemed well taken care of. A one year old girl was just following me around, wanting to play with my earrings and eat the biscuits and drink the juice that had been offered to us. They took my mailing address and promised to send updates. At this point Happy and I were very late for getting back into town. We knew all the Mamas would waiting for us, so we grabbed TJ and then, after waiting for awhile, took a few unique transports back. In the first, a car stopped and picked us up and after having been in the back, we can definitely tell that the drivers are on something. It was interesting, I think if I had been alone I would have been scared, but we had TJ with us so the concern was more about making sure he was sitting near us, in a good seat. We got out at the first chance. The second transport was a dala-dala of young punks who were just rude and drove super crazy. We were happy to finally end up in the city! So we had big plans on Saturday evening. One TAWE member, Mama Kiyah, is a well-known musician and has a band. On Saturday night there was an event for Parliament honoring the Prime Minister and Mama Kiyah's band had been asked to perform. I was invited along and I spent 6 hours at the event. So, it was an interesting event and I had a nice time experiencing a Tanzanian celebration and seeing so many members of Parliament, including the Speaker, Prime Minister and many Ministers, but Tanzanians of course do not run on a timetable so we were always behind schedule, running over, etc. Also Mama Kiyah talks more than any person I have ever met. And anyone who knows me well knows that sometimes I just need quiet time (i.e. shut up). But I guess this is a true testament to how much patience I have learned here because I was kind and interested all night! On Sunday I had a free day. Atu went into town for Church and I slept in. I had been feeling a little caged in - imagine being under a microscope ALL the time. The women are always checking up on me and even the kids and housegirls are always reporting on what I do. So I took the opportunity to just walk out of the house and try my hand at finding my way into town. The kids, who up until this point had not been too kind to me, where all of a sudden interested and worried about me. They followed me a bit of the way, asking where I was going, but I gave them some of their own medicine and pretended I didn't understand them. I was very happy to find that I was able to find my way into town, and estimate its about a 1 3/4 mile walk? That was important for me because it meant in the future I could come and go as I pleased, not depending on someone to walk with me or show me the way. Since this day I have walked to and from town each day, always declining rides. So I kind of just tooled around town, reviewed a grant, and then went and had a late lunch with Grace and Happy. In the evening Grace and Atu had some meetings. Meetings are interesting here because most people don't have offices or big spaces for meetings, so there are a few outdoor 'cafes' that allow people to congregate as long as they buy drinks. So we went to this place and Grace and Atu disappeared for their meetings. Happy and I sat outside to watch people and drink some Konyagi and coke. Long story short, I got little tipsy. And then this guy came and bought us each our own bottles of Konyagi . . . and then I got a little drunk. This guy was definitely interested in me, so Grace and Atu took advantage and invited him to dinner, knowing he would pay (sometimes the women don't help the feminist movement here!). So we went and had some kuku (chicken) and chips. We all definitely got silly but it was a lot of fun and we did a lot of talking. Monday morning we all woke up early and went to visit Parliament. I know what you are thinking - hungover? That's the beauty of Konyagi . . . no hangover, but we were definitely tired. So we all got dressed in nice clothes, me wearing a dress of Grace's from her youth. It was all very formal and ceremonial. When you walk into the Parliament building you have to bow to Parliament. Everyone stands when the speaker enteres, and each time you enter or leave you have to bow again. We sat through 2 hours of a Q&A session. Basically, each day questions are collected for the ministers. At the end of the day the ministers are given all the questions and required to answer all questions the next day. One-off or follow-up questions are handled during the presentation. So I was able to hear all the ministers speak about current issues. I was aware of most because I buy the English newspapers, and Mama Kiyah translated everything they were saying. So I don't want to force my culture on this, but it appeared to me that few people were really paying attention. There is a lot of note passing on the floor - there are porters who collect the notes and then distribute them. So for example, if Casey and I were on the floor together but sitting far apart, we could definitely just pass notes all day long . . . and while some of the notes are relevant to politics, I would guess most aren't! Another interesting thing is that when one member says something that others agree with, they slap their hand on the tables to mimic clapping. It was neat for me to listen to the minister of women and children discuss female genital mutiliation. It is illegal in Tanzania but still practiced by tribes. She was appealling to all the ministers to go back to their districts and stress the importance of banning the practice. THEN one MALE minister actually asked how she can expect the ministers to convey such an unpopular message when elections are coming so soon. So basically he was saying, I dont give a shit about women's health, I just want to get re-elected. It shouldn't surprise me anymore to see those kinds of responses from men here, but it still annoys me a lot. After the Q&A session special guests are recognized, including our group. Mama Kiyah worked hard to get us announced as TAWE, not as friends of Minister X,Y,Z. It was important that we were announced as members of a women's group. So the Speaker actually announces the guests from the floor, says each of our names, and individually we all stand and bow to parliament. He thanked me in English for coming. It was pretty neat and the funny thing is that Parliament is broadcast live on TV all day, so immediately TAWE members in different districts were calling to say they saw us, or new people were asking the TAWE dodoma women how to join. I guess I was a celebrity for a day! After Parliament I was pretty tired and went to take a rest. In the evening I walked down to town and got a haircut. I was pretty nervous about it, but Loyce had made it clear two weeks ago that I needed a haircut and I was beginning to agree. I was assured that a woman named Miriam had cut white people's hair before and so I went to her. She did a pretty decent job and it cost me about $7. In the evening Happy and I walked home and got caught in a huge storm. There wasn't anywhere to go, so we just continued the walk home and arrived completely soaked and cold. On Tuesday morning me and several TAWE members went to visit the Ihumwa women's pottery group. These women are bush women, very uneducated and living with very little. There story is pretty neat - they walk 5 hours one day to dig for clay. They can only bring back what they can carry and typically return with a bucket of 50 pounds of clay on their heads - walking the whole way. Then they sieve the clay by hand and remove as many rocks as possible. They buy some water (50 shillings a bucket) and mix the clay with water and let is sit. Then, by hand and using calabash shells and corncobs as tools, they create vases, cooking pieces, pots, etc. They put little designs and the pieces are really nice. Afterwards the pieces dry for 2-3 days and then are fired - literally. They sit the pieces on rocks, build a fire right on top and about 30 minutes later the pieces are done. The problem is that they dont really have access to a market and the firing leaves the pieces with black soot marks. Our job was to go there, get information, and then work together to create a proposal for additional training and tools. Its hard because these women are lacking os much - and there is nothing we can do about the distance to the clay. So its basically about getting some training and tools such as a potters wheel or kiln. And then we are further constrained by costs, etc. So its been interesting to discuss this grant with TAWE because they just want to put together a budget for everything - when we can only ask for $3,000 max. Another problem is that I think they expect me to do it all - and that's just not going ot happen. I have some of my own work to do on it today, but I won't do all of it or even 1/2 of it. It's time that TAWE take responsibility for their actions and their group. I have another meeting with them today and then I leave tomorrow, so it's very frustrating. We spent a few hours with the women and then went back into town. I was feeling really down that day because it was almost my hump day - my half-way mark. Sometimes I feel like I can't believe I only have 6 more weeks left, and then other times I'm like shit, I have 6 more weeks left . . . so I was just having one of those days, wishing for a toilet, a hot shower, hygenically prepared food, etc. You know, the basics. The women could tell I was out of it and just told me to go home. So I walked home with Yona, took an early bath, got some clean clothes on, read a paper and listened to music. I felt a lot better after that. On Wednesday morning I went to visit a woman who makes Lishe, a flour like mixture of corn, soybeans, millet, peanuts and rice. These things are round and then eventually made into a porridge. It's a health product marketed for pregnant women, children, and sick people. It was one of the most intersting products I have seen so far and I enjoyed hearing about how she makes it. She gave me a kilo to take home, which I then gave to Atu for Yona. In the afternoon we met about the grant and very little progress was made. No one in TAWE seems to want to take responsibility for it. Wednesday night I took Happy, Grace, and Atu out for dinner, which seems one of the few ways I can thank these peopel for such hospitality and love. AND it was one of the best meals I have had in a LONG time, so well worth it. On Thursday I went to visit a Mama who makes and sells peanut butter. That too was super neat because it's really easy and I think I can make some when I get home.
So it's time to leave soon and again it will be hard to leave these people. Yesterday at lunch they had a little send-off for me, where some members gave me small gifts. Mama Kiyah gave me a tape of her band and the chairperson Sarah gave me a khanga, which I am getting made into a skirt.Happy and her mother also gave me a khanga which I had made into a skirt yesterday and its beautiful. Happy and I have gotten very close and it's going to be hard to leave her. So I have been struggling for the past few days with how hard Happy's life is and how difficult it has been for her to get money for school fees. I've been weighing that with Pilar's advice about how giving people money changes everything - and I believe she is right - but I had also seen Happys home and it just wasnt sitting right with me. After a few days of thought, I decided I was going to give her the money for school fews. I was kind of nervous about saying something to her, but as soon as I said something she started crying so hard. So, in the end, I really think I made the right choice. I don't know, I mean maybe I've fallen into a trap - but in the end I made the choice that felt right for me and I feel good about it. I made her promise not to say anything to anyone else and she agreed. Best $170 I have spent in a LONG time.
Before I go I want to explain the title of this blog. So Mzungu refers to the name for white people. I have been told by many people that its not a bad term, but believe me its definitely meant in a racist way and you just have to see how someone behaves when they direct it at you to know that its not good. AND it drives me crazy because I hear it ALL the time, even from the TAWE women. So my new policy, as I've explained to TAWE, is that I will not respond to anyone who calls me that, including them. Its been an interesting experiment and most are trying really really hard to drop the term. Raheima, the house girl, even apologized this mornign after Happy told her to stop calling me that. But regardless of the 5-10 people who are learning not to use the word, the entire rest of the town does, and I have started ignoring A LOT of people. Sometimes people are shouting it because they think maybe I can't hear them? I can definitely hear them . . . .
I hope everyone is well. I've gotten a little for the first time yesterday and today, but I think it's just either a cold or allergies. I feel a little better today already!
I love you all and take care.
Ann
So it's time to leave soon and again it will be hard to leave these people. Yesterday at lunch they had a little send-off for me, where some members gave me small gifts. Mama Kiyah gave me a tape of her band and the chairperson Sarah gave me a khanga, which I am getting made into a skirt.Happy and her mother also gave me a khanga which I had made into a skirt yesterday and its beautiful. Happy and I have gotten very close and it's going to be hard to leave her. So I have been struggling for the past few days with how hard Happy's life is and how difficult it has been for her to get money for school fees. I've been weighing that with Pilar's advice about how giving people money changes everything - and I believe she is right - but I had also seen Happys home and it just wasnt sitting right with me. After a few days of thought, I decided I was going to give her the money for school fews. I was kind of nervous about saying something to her, but as soon as I said something she started crying so hard. So, in the end, I really think I made the right choice. I don't know, I mean maybe I've fallen into a trap - but in the end I made the choice that felt right for me and I feel good about it. I made her promise not to say anything to anyone else and she agreed. Best $170 I have spent in a LONG time.
Before I go I want to explain the title of this blog. So Mzungu refers to the name for white people. I have been told by many people that its not a bad term, but believe me its definitely meant in a racist way and you just have to see how someone behaves when they direct it at you to know that its not good. AND it drives me crazy because I hear it ALL the time, even from the TAWE women. So my new policy, as I've explained to TAWE, is that I will not respond to anyone who calls me that, including them. Its been an interesting experiment and most are trying really really hard to drop the term. Raheima, the house girl, even apologized this mornign after Happy told her to stop calling me that. But regardless of the 5-10 people who are learning not to use the word, the entire rest of the town does, and I have started ignoring A LOT of people. Sometimes people are shouting it because they think maybe I can't hear them? I can definitely hear them . . . .
I hope everyone is well. I've gotten a little for the first time yesterday and today, but I think it's just either a cold or allergies. I feel a little better today already!
I love you all and take care.
Ann
Dodoma Pictures II
I took this picture last night walking home to Atu's house with Happy. It's rainy season in Dodoma so there are always a lot of clouds, kind of like in Madagascar. When the sun starts to go down at night it's really beautiful.
I captured this little boy sleeping when we were visiting the Ihumwa women. The mother just sat like that for hours, most of the time not even leaning against anything.
This is Happy and her mom. A lot of times I forget all the women's name, but in most cases they can just be called Mama. Mama bought me a khanga as a send-off present and since I needed another khanga like I needed a hole in the head, I had it made into a skirt!
This is some of the pottery that the women make by hand. They design the pottery and then leave it to dry for 2-3 days. Once it hardens they rest the pieces on rocks, put firewood around it and then set a big fire that burns down for 30-35 minutes. Once the fire is out they pull the pieces out, let them cool, and then they are ready to be sold.
Dodoma Pictures
One of my projects in Dodoma is to visit the Ihumwa women pottery group and assess how we can help them make better quality products - and then start writing a grant to request money. 5 TAWE members and myself took a dala-dala out to the village and spent an afternoon with the Ihumwa women learning about how they make their pottery. They do everything by hand and the products are really nice but are burned directly in the fire so have dark soot marks on them.
I went with Happy to visit her home. Most of the TAWE women in Dodoma live in the town, but Happy is a bush-girl. She lives 20 minutes outside of town via a dala-dala and then its another 20 minute walk on a dirt road. She lives with her mother, two children, her brother's children and some other random people. She produces milk. This picture is Happy's niece and I thought she was so beautiful
Myuji is the village where Happy lives. For some reason there are a ton of missionaries in that area. Right next to Happy's land there is a orphanage. I asked Happy to take me there and we spent 30 minutes visiting. There are several Sisters who care for 52 children, as young as infants and as old as teenagers. This Sister was so kind and she loved the children. 
This is Happy's property. The right side is there the random people live and the left house structure is her home. There are no screen on the windows and its just a basic cement structure.
This is the 'dishwashing' area at my host family's house. Rahiema, the housegirl, will sit out here next to the water pump and wash the dishes after each meal. The structure behind the water pump is a chicken coop. One of Atu's businesses is selling eggs - she callects 30-40 eggs per day. So yes, I eat eggs and chicken quite often!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Dodoma
Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. FIRST and most important, I was able to find an internet cafe with an amazing connection and post about 9 pictures in the two previous posts. Please take a look!
It's been about five days since my last post and things have been very good. I am now in Dodoma. I left off on Sunday night in Dar es Salaam. On Monday morning Loyce left me to do some of her work and I was sitting at home with Edina. Edina kind of motioned she was leaving to go to the market to get poultry, so I asked to go with her. We met a friend of hers and took a dala-dala to this open air market. We went right into the heart of the market and there were hundreds of chickens in cages. Edina hemmed and hawwed with the seller and took a coulple of chickens and bounced them up and down while holding them by their wings. Once she found a few that had a weight she thought was acceptable, she handed them to the seller and he ran in the back to slaughter, pluck, and cut up the meat. 15 minutes later he handed her a little plastic bag of chicken! While we waited I slowly walked around and looked at all the food. I bought some fried cassava root with salt and all of us girls shared it. It was delicious, very similar to a potato. We took a dala dala back home and then Edina made me some wonderfully fresh chicken for lunch! When Loyce came home in the evening I convinced her to go on a walk with me. She wasnt my ideal workout partner, but I am trying to be conscious of getting outside each day and walking as much as possible. Tanzanians who have cars LOVE to use them, even if the distance is only a few blocks. I don't know if they do it for safety, because of the heat, or what, but it drives me crazy. On the other hand, they love their women to be bigger and have meat on their bones, so I guess they aren't really interested in watching their weight. Anyway, Loyce agreed and we went for a wonderful hour+ walk to Coco Beach and beyond. On the way back we stopped and had some mishikaki for dinner, which I have totally fallen in love with. If the place is good and the meat is good, it is so delious, but I have had a few times where the meat is sooo bad that I am chocking to swallow it down. . . On Tuesday morning Loyce took me to run some errands with her, which just means sitting in the car and sweating like hell while I wonder why the heck I agreed to go with her. Eventually she dropped me at home and took some money from me to buy me a bus ticket for Dodoma the next morning. I was feeling very antsy and a little caged in so I walked to the gym and worked about. It had been nice to enjoy some of hte comforts of the west, like a gym. I was there for about an hour and a half and then I walked back home. I showered and relaxed on my bed in my khanga, hoping not to start sweating again. Since this was my last night in Dar es Salaam, I had asked Loyce if I could take her, Edina, and Zawadi out for dinner. We went to my favorite mishikaki place and it was nice because Loyce had set up some kind of 'formal' dinner ahead of time where we got soup, main meals, and drinks. I am telling you, I ate everything on my plate. This included fresh mushroom soup (a surprise for me!), chips, salad, chili sauce, mishikaki and cabbage. I ate with my hands and just relished the entire thing. I washed it down with my own 200ml bottle of Konyagi, a Tanzanian gin. Its dangerious and deceiving because it is so smooth and before I knew it, it wsa all gone! I had a wonderful time and I think Loyce and the girls did too, despite the fact that the four of us were unable to carry on one whole conversation.
On Wednesday morning I got up early and tried to pack, but having so many new khangas was really making my bag full. Loyce and I agreed that I would leave all purchases and khangas at her house and I could get them when I returned. All the girls hugged me goodbye and Loyce took me to the bus station.
So leaving Loyce and the girls was hard. I kind of toggled inbetween wanting to leave and dreading to leave. Loyce and I definitely had our differences, but its difficult to get that close to someone and then just have to leave. These people have been so gracious to welcome me into their lives, introduce me as their daughters and sisters, and they have done so much in terms of taking care of me. The transition to a new place is always so hard.
The bus ride to Dodoma was pretty easy. It took about 7 hours and the bus was dubbed 'luxury' but I really wasnt feeling any of that. The thing I really liked about this bus line, though, is that it has its own terminal that is not open to the public. So it departs and arrives in a semi private place where taxi drivers and thugs are not hanging out. It makes getting off and on the bus so much easier and safer. They mark your bags depending on your seat, and each stop is at their own private offices that have bathrooms (i.e. hole in the floor). I sat next to a nice man who works for the Netherlands Embassy and does something with Parliament in Dodoma. Grace and Atu, my dodoma hosts, were waiting for me at the train station. AND THEY BROUGHT A PHOTOGRAPHER. No lie, this man was taking my picture as I got off the bus. I was trying so hard not to laugh and to take it seriously. He wanted some shots with me and Grace and Atu and then some action shots of my with my luggage . . . so funny. Atu took me to her house and it was definitely an adjustment for me. Loyce completely spoiled me. She is a very wealthy upper-middle class Tanzanian (but remember upper middle class Africa is not upper middle class America). She didn't have anyone living with her, no elderly parents to care for. She had Edina and Zawadi who worked around the house and otherwise did whatever she wanted. So Atu, on the other hand, is divorced or separated. She lives in a house wiht a few house girls, her younger sister, and Youni, the orphaned son of her brother. Youni is HIV+ and has been since birth. More on this later. Her home is very nice, but kind of dark and cool and small. It's located outside of the city center in a more village setting. So all of this, again, has been an adjustment from Loyce, but probably more of the experience I should b e having. So it took me some time to get used to Youni. He is a small boy, very thin and slight. He is 14 but looks 10 or so. He has these huge growths around his jawline, right by his ears. I'm not sure if its calcium or if its just swelling, but Atu said its a side effect of HIV+ and the medicine he takes. He is a very sweet boy and obviously the prince of the house, but very quiet, doesnt smile much. He doesnt go to school often because he might get sick or tired. He gets treatment for HIV for free from government clinics, but only takes medicine when his white blood count is very low. It was very hard for me at first to be around him. I was just so affected by this little boy who was so unlucky that his parents gave him HIV+. I mean people can live for a very long time now with HIV+, but it just kills me that hhis body has to fight for his life every single day. Being an African child is hard enough, b ut on top of that he is very limited in his activities and what he can do. I've tried my best to get over my feelings and I try to spend some time with him each day. I showed him and one of the girls how to shuffle cards, you know, when the deck makes that kind of brilllllll noise? Well they love it and we will spend 20-30 minutes each time just sitting on the floor as I try to teach them how to shuffle cards. They also LOVE when I take pictures and then show them. I wonder if that is hard for Youni, if he gets to see his face in the mirror often. If it does bother him, he doesn't say. So Wednesday night Atu invited me into the kitchen and showed me how they cook. We had one pot on the floor over charcoals cooking rice, one pan with chicken and tomatos, and another with greens and coconut milk. It was delicious food and she has said that she will try to get me to eat as much africa food as possible! On Thursday morning I met with all the local TAWE members. It was kind of awkward and quiet and I couldnt get a very good read on everyone. Each person introduced themself I talked about what I was doing, etc. They had this whole agenda for me, starting from my arrival to departure. The timetable is of course already slipping,but their interest touched me. All of us had lunch together and just chatted for awhile outside. In the afternoon I went home with the chairwoman, Sarah, and had a fantastic visit with her. One of the things that I am supposed to do here is visit the Ihumwa tribe of women who make their own pottery. The Dodoma chapter wants to work with these women and help get them a grant. This perspective is so different from the Dar chapter, where the women just wanted to get money for themselves and didnt care about sisterhood or empowerment. But, as Sarah explained to me, the women of TAWE in Dodoma have what they need to survive. They might not have the most successful businesses or the best houses or cars,but they can flick a switch for electricity whenever they want, they can eat full meals each day, and they can clothe themselves and feed their families. But women like the Ihumwa women, who have no running water and must walk for hours to get it, no electicity, and cannot even afford clothes, are the ones who relaly need help. It was so inspiring and touching to hear that TAWE really just wants to help these women. It also made me feel a lot of pressure to get something done or at least do something right. We also talked for awhile about Sarah's business and the gender culture in Tanzania, especially how women reallu suffer. It is getting better, but women really have no say here. Men don't usually allow them to have their own businesses and in many cases, even if women earn money for something, the money gets paid to the husband. Women are responsible for making babies, and if couples cant conceive right away, the women is usually discarded. There is no understanding that men might be impotent. And, though this is a deep generaliztion, men are very physically rough here and beat their wives. More on that. And in terms of HIV, many people in the villages surrounding Dodoma still believe that HIV and AIDS are the result of witchcraft and even sometimes white people medicine. They share and reuse condoms if they use them at all. Sometimes they use plastic bags as condoms. I mean I read about this stuff and feel like I can grasp it, but I guess I really can't. I really appreciated the time Sarah took with me and I learned about. I didnt get this kind of information or attention in Dar and it really makes a differece in helping me understand my surroundings and their daily life. Afterwards Sarah and I walked back into town where I met Grace, Atu, and Loyce. Long story short, Loyce was there for business and was just hanging out. I was happy to see her and all of us went out for a drink and then dinner. Dodoma is known for its chicken, meaning they eat a shitload of it. The four of us went out to this open air restaurant where they cook whole chickens on spits and then fry potatos in open vats of oil. Once the chicken is done they just chop it up, bone and all, and serve it. I was so hungry and ate ALL of it. I am getting pretty good at eating chicken bones clean and my pile of bones is almost as bare as theirs. I guess I have some pride on that!
Afterwards I went home and took a bath (bucket bath) and climbed into my bed under my net. The weather is much cooler here and it is so easy to sleep at night now, no more sweating, though I still wake often as I am adjusting to the new noises. We were supposed to visit the Ihumwa women this morning, but heavy rains last night caused it to be cancelled as most roads are not paved and travel can be very difficult. Hopefully we can reschedule for Tuesday!
SO I've missed a lot I know but this is the best I can do for now. I'll be in Dodoma until the 14th and then will travel to Morogoro for the same kind of thing. I hope everyone is doing well at home. I definitely miss being up to date on my current events. Its funny becuase sometimes English headlines will flash on the bottom of the TV screen and they will be so vague, like 'Obama admits he made a mistake.' And of course Im like - waitwhatmistakewhatsgoingoninamericailoveobamawhatdidimiss. And no one can tell me so usually I forget it.
CASEY maybe you can start sending me some celebrity gossip updates? I would completely love that.
TIM also please bring a suduko book off my bookshelf when you come. Im starting to go a little mad having so much free time in my head.
I hope everyone is well. Shout out to Navy ERP and especially Mary, Frankie, Cindy and Jennifer.
Love,
Ann
It's been about five days since my last post and things have been very good. I am now in Dodoma. I left off on Sunday night in Dar es Salaam. On Monday morning Loyce left me to do some of her work and I was sitting at home with Edina. Edina kind of motioned she was leaving to go to the market to get poultry, so I asked to go with her. We met a friend of hers and took a dala-dala to this open air market. We went right into the heart of the market and there were hundreds of chickens in cages. Edina hemmed and hawwed with the seller and took a coulple of chickens and bounced them up and down while holding them by their wings. Once she found a few that had a weight she thought was acceptable, she handed them to the seller and he ran in the back to slaughter, pluck, and cut up the meat. 15 minutes later he handed her a little plastic bag of chicken! While we waited I slowly walked around and looked at all the food. I bought some fried cassava root with salt and all of us girls shared it. It was delicious, very similar to a potato. We took a dala dala back home and then Edina made me some wonderfully fresh chicken for lunch! When Loyce came home in the evening I convinced her to go on a walk with me. She wasnt my ideal workout partner, but I am trying to be conscious of getting outside each day and walking as much as possible. Tanzanians who have cars LOVE to use them, even if the distance is only a few blocks. I don't know if they do it for safety, because of the heat, or what, but it drives me crazy. On the other hand, they love their women to be bigger and have meat on their bones, so I guess they aren't really interested in watching their weight. Anyway, Loyce agreed and we went for a wonderful hour+ walk to Coco Beach and beyond. On the way back we stopped and had some mishikaki for dinner, which I have totally fallen in love with. If the place is good and the meat is good, it is so delious, but I have had a few times where the meat is sooo bad that I am chocking to swallow it down. . . On Tuesday morning Loyce took me to run some errands with her, which just means sitting in the car and sweating like hell while I wonder why the heck I agreed to go with her. Eventually she dropped me at home and took some money from me to buy me a bus ticket for Dodoma the next morning. I was feeling very antsy and a little caged in so I walked to the gym and worked about. It had been nice to enjoy some of hte comforts of the west, like a gym. I was there for about an hour and a half and then I walked back home. I showered and relaxed on my bed in my khanga, hoping not to start sweating again. Since this was my last night in Dar es Salaam, I had asked Loyce if I could take her, Edina, and Zawadi out for dinner. We went to my favorite mishikaki place and it was nice because Loyce had set up some kind of 'formal' dinner ahead of time where we got soup, main meals, and drinks. I am telling you, I ate everything on my plate. This included fresh mushroom soup (a surprise for me!), chips, salad, chili sauce, mishikaki and cabbage. I ate with my hands and just relished the entire thing. I washed it down with my own 200ml bottle of Konyagi, a Tanzanian gin. Its dangerious and deceiving because it is so smooth and before I knew it, it wsa all gone! I had a wonderful time and I think Loyce and the girls did too, despite the fact that the four of us were unable to carry on one whole conversation.
On Wednesday morning I got up early and tried to pack, but having so many new khangas was really making my bag full. Loyce and I agreed that I would leave all purchases and khangas at her house and I could get them when I returned. All the girls hugged me goodbye and Loyce took me to the bus station.
So leaving Loyce and the girls was hard. I kind of toggled inbetween wanting to leave and dreading to leave. Loyce and I definitely had our differences, but its difficult to get that close to someone and then just have to leave. These people have been so gracious to welcome me into their lives, introduce me as their daughters and sisters, and they have done so much in terms of taking care of me. The transition to a new place is always so hard.
The bus ride to Dodoma was pretty easy. It took about 7 hours and the bus was dubbed 'luxury' but I really wasnt feeling any of that. The thing I really liked about this bus line, though, is that it has its own terminal that is not open to the public. So it departs and arrives in a semi private place where taxi drivers and thugs are not hanging out. It makes getting off and on the bus so much easier and safer. They mark your bags depending on your seat, and each stop is at their own private offices that have bathrooms (i.e. hole in the floor). I sat next to a nice man who works for the Netherlands Embassy and does something with Parliament in Dodoma. Grace and Atu, my dodoma hosts, were waiting for me at the train station. AND THEY BROUGHT A PHOTOGRAPHER. No lie, this man was taking my picture as I got off the bus. I was trying so hard not to laugh and to take it seriously. He wanted some shots with me and Grace and Atu and then some action shots of my with my luggage . . . so funny. Atu took me to her house and it was definitely an adjustment for me. Loyce completely spoiled me. She is a very wealthy upper-middle class Tanzanian (but remember upper middle class Africa is not upper middle class America). She didn't have anyone living with her, no elderly parents to care for. She had Edina and Zawadi who worked around the house and otherwise did whatever she wanted. So Atu, on the other hand, is divorced or separated. She lives in a house wiht a few house girls, her younger sister, and Youni, the orphaned son of her brother. Youni is HIV+ and has been since birth. More on this later. Her home is very nice, but kind of dark and cool and small. It's located outside of the city center in a more village setting. So all of this, again, has been an adjustment from Loyce, but probably more of the experience I should b e having. So it took me some time to get used to Youni. He is a small boy, very thin and slight. He is 14 but looks 10 or so. He has these huge growths around his jawline, right by his ears. I'm not sure if its calcium or if its just swelling, but Atu said its a side effect of HIV+ and the medicine he takes. He is a very sweet boy and obviously the prince of the house, but very quiet, doesnt smile much. He doesnt go to school often because he might get sick or tired. He gets treatment for HIV for free from government clinics, but only takes medicine when his white blood count is very low. It was very hard for me at first to be around him. I was just so affected by this little boy who was so unlucky that his parents gave him HIV+. I mean people can live for a very long time now with HIV+, but it just kills me that hhis body has to fight for his life every single day. Being an African child is hard enough, b ut on top of that he is very limited in his activities and what he can do. I've tried my best to get over my feelings and I try to spend some time with him each day. I showed him and one of the girls how to shuffle cards, you know, when the deck makes that kind of brilllllll noise? Well they love it and we will spend 20-30 minutes each time just sitting on the floor as I try to teach them how to shuffle cards. They also LOVE when I take pictures and then show them. I wonder if that is hard for Youni, if he gets to see his face in the mirror often. If it does bother him, he doesn't say. So Wednesday night Atu invited me into the kitchen and showed me how they cook. We had one pot on the floor over charcoals cooking rice, one pan with chicken and tomatos, and another with greens and coconut milk. It was delicious food and she has said that she will try to get me to eat as much africa food as possible! On Thursday morning I met with all the local TAWE members. It was kind of awkward and quiet and I couldnt get a very good read on everyone. Each person introduced themself I talked about what I was doing, etc. They had this whole agenda for me, starting from my arrival to departure. The timetable is of course already slipping,but their interest touched me. All of us had lunch together and just chatted for awhile outside. In the afternoon I went home with the chairwoman, Sarah, and had a fantastic visit with her. One of the things that I am supposed to do here is visit the Ihumwa tribe of women who make their own pottery. The Dodoma chapter wants to work with these women and help get them a grant. This perspective is so different from the Dar chapter, where the women just wanted to get money for themselves and didnt care about sisterhood or empowerment. But, as Sarah explained to me, the women of TAWE in Dodoma have what they need to survive. They might not have the most successful businesses or the best houses or cars,but they can flick a switch for electricity whenever they want, they can eat full meals each day, and they can clothe themselves and feed their families. But women like the Ihumwa women, who have no running water and must walk for hours to get it, no electicity, and cannot even afford clothes, are the ones who relaly need help. It was so inspiring and touching to hear that TAWE really just wants to help these women. It also made me feel a lot of pressure to get something done or at least do something right. We also talked for awhile about Sarah's business and the gender culture in Tanzania, especially how women reallu suffer. It is getting better, but women really have no say here. Men don't usually allow them to have their own businesses and in many cases, even if women earn money for something, the money gets paid to the husband. Women are responsible for making babies, and if couples cant conceive right away, the women is usually discarded. There is no understanding that men might be impotent. And, though this is a deep generaliztion, men are very physically rough here and beat their wives. More on that. And in terms of HIV, many people in the villages surrounding Dodoma still believe that HIV and AIDS are the result of witchcraft and even sometimes white people medicine. They share and reuse condoms if they use them at all. Sometimes they use plastic bags as condoms. I mean I read about this stuff and feel like I can grasp it, but I guess I really can't. I really appreciated the time Sarah took with me and I learned about. I didnt get this kind of information or attention in Dar and it really makes a differece in helping me understand my surroundings and their daily life. Afterwards Sarah and I walked back into town where I met Grace, Atu, and Loyce. Long story short, Loyce was there for business and was just hanging out. I was happy to see her and all of us went out for a drink and then dinner. Dodoma is known for its chicken, meaning they eat a shitload of it. The four of us went out to this open air restaurant where they cook whole chickens on spits and then fry potatos in open vats of oil. Once the chicken is done they just chop it up, bone and all, and serve it. I was so hungry and ate ALL of it. I am getting pretty good at eating chicken bones clean and my pile of bones is almost as bare as theirs. I guess I have some pride on that!
Afterwards I went home and took a bath (bucket bath) and climbed into my bed under my net. The weather is much cooler here and it is so easy to sleep at night now, no more sweating, though I still wake often as I am adjusting to the new noises. We were supposed to visit the Ihumwa women this morning, but heavy rains last night caused it to be cancelled as most roads are not paved and travel can be very difficult. Hopefully we can reschedule for Tuesday!
SO I've missed a lot I know but this is the best I can do for now. I'll be in Dodoma until the 14th and then will travel to Morogoro for the same kind of thing. I hope everyone is doing well at home. I definitely miss being up to date on my current events. Its funny becuase sometimes English headlines will flash on the bottom of the TV screen and they will be so vague, like 'Obama admits he made a mistake.' And of course Im like - waitwhatmistakewhatsgoingoninamericailoveobamawhatdidimiss. And no one can tell me so usually I forget it.
CASEY maybe you can start sending me some celebrity gossip updates? I would completely love that.
TIM also please bring a suduko book off my bookshelf when you come. Im starting to go a little mad having so much free time in my head.
I hope everyone is well. Shout out to Navy ERP and especially Mary, Frankie, Cindy and Jennifer.
Love,
Ann
More Pictures
This is a picture of Loyce, Atu and Grace. Loyce is my host in Dar and Atu and Grace are my hosts in Dodoma.
This is a rainbow that I saw my first night in Dodoma. Rainy season is starting and the rains come in pretty hard, sometimes knocking out the electricity. There were actually two rainbows side by side but the light was changing too fast for me to fool around with my shutter speeed and capture both.
This is a picture I took from the bus on the road between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.
This is a picture of the island I visited in Dar once with Loyce and the other time with Jim and Matt. It was SO beautiful.
Pictures
This is a picture of the cityscape of Dar. Loyce has a friend Beatrice whose husband is a mzungu and works for the world bank. They have many houses, including this stunning house in Dar with a crazy view.
This is a picture of the main market street in Tana. Solofo took me for a walk through there on my last day and it was so overwhelming. Very cramped and people selling anything you could think of.
This is a picture of Tana, Madagascar. The city is very interesting to view from afar with it being built on hills. The walking is crazy, so many uphills and steps and windy roads.
This is a picture of a traditional Madagascar dhow. This is the kind of boat I went out in to go snorkeling in Ifaty but it had a makeshift sail. One of the best parts of my trip and so overwhelming to be this little dot in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
This is a picture that I took during my night in Ifaty. I literally sat on a chair near the water for almost two hours just taking different pictures of the sunset. From what I understand, this picture is nothing! That night had a lot of clouds, but when the clouds arent present its supposed to be spectacular. I don't know, I thought this was pretty great too!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Still Sweating it Out
Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. It's Sunday night and I am just sitting here as sweat drops off my face. I think I'm kind of hot. It's been an interesting few days, a few lessons learns, a few sights taken in. I think I last left the blog on Thursday morning so I will just start from there. Thursday night a big TAWE meeting was scheduled and all members were supposed to attend. I had been kind of discouraged up until this point with their interest and involvement, so I was just kind of expecting a dull meeting with no progress. The meeting was set to start at 4:00pm so Loyce and I left the house at 3:30 and made a few stops and then made our way over to the meeting. I sat with the board a few minutes and shared some information and examples I had put together with the Treasurer. Her record keeping was pretty poor and my recommendation had been to just start fresh. Prior records were missing or lost or stolen and there was nothing they could do about that, but based on the information I shared with the Treasurer, my suggestion was to start fresh and begin being organized and detailed about the financial records. The meeting, though scheduled to start at 4, did not start until 5:15 and women just kind of came in whenever they felt like it. I am coming to learn that this is the way of Tanzanians. American, or rather Western, business, does not translate so well here. I greeted each woman and handed out the agenda information and then sat in the back. The meeting lasted about two hours and I spent most of it lost somewhere in my head since the meeting was held in Swahili. At some times I thought it was going well, other times not so sure. There were some new members who were really giving it to the board regarding their record keeping and leadership and I really admired those members, thinking the org needed a lot more people like that. Afterwards I met with the board and learned that they went through almost everything that we had discussed and that really impressed me. Despite their lack of communication with me, I had the sense of hope that my being there at least spurred them into action and they resolved a lot of open issues. I can only hope that this continues. After the meeting I took Loyce to dinner at this awesome outdoor restaurant. There is little lighting so you eat by candle and we had some myshikaka (sp.?) which is just meat roasted over charcoal - like real charcoal straight from the tree. It comes with a chili and we got some chips (fries) and salad. This is the second time I've eaten at this place and I love it, the meat is cooked so well and its so fresh, judging by the hour we wait for our food each time. Loyce and I had a few drinks (though I stopped at 2!) and just had a really nice discussion about random things. I learned that her husband died some years ago and she would like another relationship but its not so easy at that age here, most men are already married or want her money. I was asking about Edina and learned that she is actually 30!!!! Edina looks like a 15 year old girl and that completely surprised me. Since Edina has worked with Loyce for a long time, I asked if Edina was too old to get married here or what she would do. So just a little aside on Edina - she is tiny. I mean kind of tall, but just super skinny, nio hips or breasts, probably a very western view of beauty. So it was funny and interesting to me when Loyce turned to me and said, "Edina is very beautiful, but her body is very queer." So we had this discussion of how men in Africa love women with curves and with a full figure, not women like Edina. Loyce said 'Maybe if we can find her a white man we can get her married.' That made me laugh very hard. . . .On Friday I just lounged around all day. In the morning Loyce and I ran errands and in the afternoon my TAWE appointments cancelled . . . surprise surprise. This is a feeling I am getting used to so I am just trying to enjoy my time with Loyce and going around town. Friday night we were supposed to go out with some friends but Loyce went to a meeting and then met a friend and one thing led to another and I think she had a nice time out drinking and basically forgot about me. I stayed home with the girls and bought them some beers and we just chilled watching Africa Magic . . . So that brings me to Saturday . . . Do you remember last weekend when Loyce and I went to the island and met two guys? And we had all exchanegd numbers and Loyce had some interest in doing business with them? So one of the guys, Jim, had called and asked if we wanted to go to the beach on Saturday morning. I checked with Loyce and she said she couldnt come but I could go. So I made plans with Jim and then even double checked with Loyce to make sure she was okay with me going - and nto just that she was okay but that she trusted who I was going with. She went in circles but in the end said I would be good. So Saturday morning Jim picked me up and we met another friend of his Matt and we went to the island together. I had a really nice afternoon, a good walk on the beach, a lot of snorkeling, and a good boat ride. On the boat ride over we happened across some dolphins and it was pretty neat. We were about to jump in and go swimming with the dolphins when we realized we had no masks . . but that is what I like about this trip so much, just the idea that if we had wanted to, we could have just jumped right in and hung out with the dolphins. I guess it's like this adventure streak or something? I also had the best lunch ever on the island. So we had ordered a fish and some chips and then Jim had bought some fresh octapus and squid with him that the kitchen (i.e. outside open fire) cooked up. So we were all sitting there in our bathing suits, eating on shared plates with our hands and it was just fabulous. We spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging out before we left around 5. So Jim and Matt had asked me if I wanted to come to a BBQ that evening. I called Loyce and spoke with her and she was fine with it. We went to this huge fish market, like a true africa fish market, and bought 20 fish in auction. The fish were cleaned and gutted and then we headed over for the BBQ. I had a really nice time - no so much because of the company and not even because of the food, but it was just nice to sit outside, be around people close to my age, and be out after dark. Matt is from the UK and a very funny guy, so it was also nice to just joke around with him. I was home by 11:00pm. So it turns out that Loyce doesnt like Jim. She doesnt really trust him and she doeant really want me to hang out with him. So this morning we had a bit of a fight about it. So a little about Jim - he is 37 and married to the daughter of the President of the DRC (Congo). He has a crap load of money and a crap load of businesses - same with Matt, who is only 22 and moved here 3 years ago. These guys are the biggest wheelers and dealers you would ever met. They are always looking to make a dime and have contacts everywhere. It was annoying at first to listen to them but I just started ignoring it. So anyway, Jim was a nice guy, though definitely interested in me. I had already had the conversation with him about not being interested, only being friends, etc. And I had made that same point clear to Loyce . . . so it was a surprise to me this morning when we got into a fight about him. She said she didnt want me near him or doing anything with him. Basically the point is that she thought I was doing something with him and didnt like that. And I was pissed because she was not listening to me and because she told me many times that she was okay with me hanging out with him. I was so mad because I don't like Jim, was really only happy to be with someone younger, and would have listened to anything she told me to do. So I resolved not to speak with him again. But after that I was so annoyed that I needed to get some energy out and had Loyce take me to a gym. I worked out there for about 2 hours and then walked home. I felt a lot better after I came home. Then in the evening Edina and I took a walk to Coco Beach and then on the way back we stopped and had some dinner. Again, it was nice to be out after dark and with someone my age.
So I feel like I have skimmed over a lot of this stuff and I really can't help that . . . I dont have a lot of time on the computer and its hard to always remember what happened or how I felt when it happened OR to provide all the detail. I hope some of this makes sense!
Shout-out to Maddy Gitomer . . . of course I never stop thinking about you. And I totally love Without a Trace. Oh that Poppy Montgomery . . .
And a shout-out to Amer, was listening to our dollar dollar bill song today at the gym and I missed you!
Its hard to believe I've already been here for 5 weeks . . . time flies when life is crazy . . . .
Love,
Ann
So I feel like I have skimmed over a lot of this stuff and I really can't help that . . . I dont have a lot of time on the computer and its hard to always remember what happened or how I felt when it happened OR to provide all the detail. I hope some of this makes sense!
Shout-out to Maddy Gitomer . . . of course I never stop thinking about you. And I totally love Without a Trace. Oh that Poppy Montgomery . . .
And a shout-out to Amer, was listening to our dollar dollar bill song today at the gym and I missed you!
Its hard to believe I've already been here for 5 weeks . . . time flies when life is crazy . . . .
Love,
Ann
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