Traveling Mishaps and Learning Swahili in Tanzania

It's been a long and very unlucky transit to get here but don't worry moms and dads we made it. There will be a series of unfortunate transportation events that we will cover first starting off in Rwanda. Our wonderful day started at the airport early in the morning at 6am. We arrived there by 6:30 for our 9am flight only to find after an hour of sitting and waiting that our flight was delayed to 5pm. We were all very caught off guard and slightly angry. The airport services fortunately sent us a car that took us to the world's fanciest hotel (in our opinion). Consider that our standards at this point are low, nonetheless this hotel was amazing. The hotel had hot working showers, laundry service, spa, free food, a pool, internet, white robes (most importantly) and did I mention we all got our own rooms with queen beds and tv's? We were basically celebrities for a few hours. This day was also someone's birthday (Marley) and it turned from a not so good day to the best birthday ever. Sadly our time at the hotel was coming to an end and we had to say goodbye to all those western wonders. We got back to the airport at 3pm for our 6:15 flight which was once again delayed. This time it was not to our surprise because there was a massive storm going on right before our flight. Eventually we finally made it to Dar es Salaam and quickly found a car to take us to our hostel. Surprise! Our hostel cancelled our reservations, we so pleasantly found out once we got there. So for 2 hours we drove around in search of a place to sleep. We were all tired, grumpy and some feeling nauseous but after a long frustrating journey of being rejected by hotels, we came across the Holiday Hotel. Not the Holiday Inn, but the Holiday Hotel (we're hipsters). The next morning we ate a quick breakfast then jumped on a bus to Morogoro. After a long bus ride we made it… Or did we? Just kidding – our bus passed our location so we lugged our big packs (not too far) back to the Lutheran seminary where we would be taking Swahili and staying with our homestay families for a week. Although Swahili was very difficult for most we had our wonderful homestays to come back to after a long day of school. We all had great things to say about our homestays:

Cat: Hello this is Cat! Adrienne and I had a dynamic week with ou big homestay family. These days were exhausting for our minds with swahili school from 8am to 4pm then off to home to interact and try to relate. This week was a constant challenging effort to communicate even with those in our family who knew english. In our home no one ate while guests ate, and the rest of the family ate throughout the day and not together. The Mama of the house was the only one with very little english understanding, and it was elating to understand each other more and more as the week went on. Some awkward cultural misunderstandings and many fun curious times gave us an experience full of valuable learning and more valuable questions. We ended our stay with a fun night of games, conversation and gift exchange. Then a mellow morning of goodbyes. So happy to have met and sad to leave as we were just beginning to make great connections.

Cassandra: We had an amazing time with Mama Esther! It was an honor having her be our mom for a week. We had many fun times with out family including dance parties with Tina the houseworker, holding screaming baby piglets, making dinner for the family and laughing at each other for pronouncing certain words in Swahili. Our time felt too short but was definitely worth it.

While we weren't at our homestays we were either in class learning Swahili, at chai (tea in Swahili) time, playing volleyball or tossing around the ole frisbee. There was one day where our amazingly wonderful and blessed leaders let us watch Lion King, a movie that was so necessary for this trip! We also had a lesson on Tanzanian culture where we learned many things that were both surprising and enlightening. It's crazy how different American culture is to this culture! One of our teachers had silly shirts every day, one saying "refuse to be broke" and another Nike-slogan-gone-bad that said "always hard" which probably was supposed to mean always tough. The last day of our homestays our group separated into 2 groups, one going to hike this beautiful and "sexy" mountain as David would say and the other went to the Maasai Market. Both groups had an equally great time. Highlights of the mountain included a refreshing mid-hike waterfall to wash away the rivers of sweat cascading down our glistening faces, a former German mission almost in ruins that now serves as a campsite for travelers, and breathtaking views of the city of Morogoro and surrounding mountains. Highlights of the Maasai Market group included so many cows, Kongas, goat meat, skinning of cows, seeing the traditional maasai clothing and a few girls getting proposed to a few times. We also received our diplomas for our weeks worth of Swahili! Sadly we had to leave the day after the mountain and masai market and hopped on a bus to Iringa. Hey look, our bus was 2 hours late picking us up from Morogoro. You could easily say the Tanzanian transport Gods aren't happy with us… At all. All of us have had many ups and downs especially considering this being the halfway point of our trip but overall have had a great time. We're now in Iringa and so ready for our Safari!

Feasting on Some Local Food in Arequipa

Greetings from Arequipa!!

After leaving Pucara, we spent a couple of days in Quito to prepare ourselves for Peru. Some of us ate some bad bus food and suffered the consequences, but it wasn't anything too serious. Our last night in Quito we all went out for a nice dinner with a beautiful view of Quito at night and had some great gringo food and pancakes and apple pie!

The next day we said goodbye to Ecuador and headed off to Arequipa. Fortunately and unfortunately, our flight form LIma to Arequipa was cancelled so we spent the night in Lima. Even though we all really wanted to get to our homestays in Arequipa, we got the chance to spend the night at an amazing hotel for free! We had a free buffet for dinner and breakfast, and we binged. We piled our plates high with pastas, potatoes, steamed vegetables, cheese that wasn't queso fresco, rice, sweet potato puree, salad, radishes, tiramisu, apple strudel, chocolate cake, rice pudding, and dulce de leche. Suntea'Ohna ate four cups of jello, and Gabriela had a line of dessert cups in front of her. For breakfast we again filled our plates with eggs, bacon, pancakes, french toast, yogurt and granola, fruit, 3 types of potatoes, toast with amazing strawberry jelly, cinnamon rolls, chocolate croissants, and more. Betsy and I smuggled out some rolls and chocolate croissants for the plane ride later. I'm still ​feeling the effects of eating so much nearly 5 days later, but it was so worth it.

We also got to shower with hot water, watch ''Whip It'' in English and Harry Potter in Spanish (with some helpful narration on my part), and sleep in the most comfortable beds with more than one pillow each!! It was a magical experience, and greatly appreciated after spending a week in Pucara.

The next day we finally made it to Arequipa and met our homestay families. The homestay pairs are as follows– Olivia & Caroline, Besty & Suntea'Ohna, Iris & Gabriela, and Ale (Jake) is solo. 

These next two weeks our schedule is a little different than usual. We split the group into two smaller groups – one group (Betsy, Suntea'Ohna, Gwen, and Ale) is taking Spanish classes from 9-130, while the other (Olivia, Mac, Gabriela, Iris, and Caroline) is helping paint some rooms at a local home for girls. The painting group chose a nice green fro the girls' room, and we managed to complete 2.5 rooms this week, and I'm still chipping paint off my fingers.Next week the groups will switch.

Durin our free time we have had fun haning around the Plaza de Armas and Real Plaza in town, and have explored some cool artisanal markets. For our fun Friday night out, we all went to the movie theater to watch Insurgent because it was playing in English. Even though it was pretty cheesey, we still had lots of fun and sort of felt like we were back in the States for a bit. Tomorrow we are going on a bike tour through some pre-Incan ruines.

Learning Mindfulness at the Thai Plum Village

After 5 days spent discovering the busy cities of Ayutthaya and Bangkok, we get a chance to slow down at the Thai Plum Village, a mindfulness retreat center that was established by Thich Nhat Hanh. Each morning starts at 3:52 am. Monk time is 8 minutes early. We usually start with some sort of seated meditation or chanting, followed by a walking meditation. After that we have a small break and head to breakfast by 7 am. Some of the time we ate seated in circular rows on the floor of the great hall, but other times we sat family style on long tables. We had to wait for the sound of 3 bells and bow to our food and each other before we could start eating. Following that was 15 silent minutes of mindful eating. It gave us a chance to really taste our food and slow down. After the 15 minute bell rings we were excused and can start talking. Then we have a break until its time for Dharma Teachings. Those were opened up with singing heart opening songs that you can't help but smile when you sing them. They went over many things, but they all centered around the "5 Mindfulness Trainings", which were reverence for life, true happiness, true love, loving speech and deep listening and nourishment and healing. Following Dharma teachnings we had an hour and a half of "total relaxation". I really can't tell you much about it because every time, before she ever started talking, I fell asleep. Once we all wake up we do some sort of activity. Sometimes its question and answer from head monks and nuns, or other times we break into groups and tell what we're thinking. Not everyday was the same, though. One night we had tea meditation, and our last night we hiked up a beautiful hill to eat dinner and watch the sun set. There are so many things I loved about Plum Village, but the biggest one was waking up at 3:52. Here the moon doesn't rise until a bit after 4, so not only do I get to see the moon rise, but also the sun rise and set.
They gave us an option to vow to live by the 5 mindfulness teachings. At 4:52 am the monastics carefully folded their orange ceremonial robes and the head monk recited the 5 teachings and asked the practitioners if they accept the teachings into their life, to which they responded "Yes, I do" and prostrated in gratitude to the Buddha. Later on the participants received certificates that had their Dharma names in them, such as "Great Understanding of the Heart".

The monks here are so different than any others that I've met. You're allowed to, and even encouraged to look them in the eye and smile with them. They also have a mindfulness bell that goes off every 15 minutes. It doesn't matter what we're doing, everyone stops and goes back to mindful breathing. It's meant to remind everyone to be here in the present moment. We also were fed vegan food, but I had no idea it was vegan until someone told me. Much to everyone's surprise the community was mainly Vietnamese, so Raisa got to be our translator. You go girl.

P.S. Tito you'll love this: We were doing a sharing circle and a man only spoke Thai, so he had his friend who spoke English and Thai translate. Then a French woman who also spoke English translated for a man who only spoke French.

Out of respect for tradition, nobody took pictures of the ceremonies or meditations, but I do have some from Ayutthaya and our hike. Photo cred to Joe.

Pop gan mai!! 

-Iris

Homestays and Community Work in Pucara, Now Onward to Peru!

Our week in Pucara came and went. We arrived there on Friday and left early Thursday morning. Within that time, we did tons of hiking, a lot of learning and tons of community work. When we arrived, the town of Pucara had a big welcome for us, where we played games, listened to music and performances and bonded quickly. We each stayed with a homestay family alone, which was a first, but which gave us plenty of time to bond with our homestay families.

Pete was our community leader. He was also an inspiration and great worker. He showed us some of his work around the small town of Pucara. For example: the spanish school he created to help women to have jobs and better finances so they can better take care of their families. Pete hopes that Pucara can be a community that other communities can follow in its footsteps, by creating a way of living where people do not have to leave hoping for a "better" lifestyle. Pucara can be the community where people go there and hopefully stay and live there, rather than people coming in, trying to find solutions, and then leaving with tons of abandoned work with no one to maintain it.

The next few days were filled with a lot of work and walking. We walked to Pete's house where we learned about his farm and the plants he grows – such as the coffee plants. The next day the group split into two. One group planted flowers and the other seperated bottles for Pete's recycled wall then they planted medicinal plants.

Monday we did a few hour hike through the cloud forest where we met Carlos. He told us about mining and what we can do to help create awareness around the issues against mining. Wesenday we planted over 285 trees on a steep slope. There are so many many things we did and learned. I cannot even explain all.
Thursday we left to another small town. There we learned the next steps about what happens to the coffee in the coffee factory before it is sent out to other places for sale. Shortly after we did the tallest zip line in all of South America. Personal shout out to myself for getting on after freaking out for a good 25 minutes. When we got to the other side we stayed in the cabins for the night. The next day after we waited for 3 1/2 for a bus back to Quito, we hitched it on the back of a boxed truck to Otovalo. There we caught a bus back to Quito where we all started. We are already in our midpoint. Early sunday morning (22nd) we will be heading to Peru. The group and I are really excited and cannot wait to spend the rest of our 6 weeks in Peru. Sorry this is extremely long, but we did so much and learned a lot!

-Ohna

Volunteer Work in Guatemala: Satire, and the Cost and Benefits of Volunteerism

Last week, the Maya group headed to the rural Pueblo of Pasac, Guatamala. We entered their village and after a week of hard work, made a lasting impact on their lives.
Our first task was to flatten the dirt in an area designated for a building project. For over TWO hours, we labored in the hot Guatamalan sun flattening the earth with makeshift tools of treetrunks attached to sticks. I am proud to say I only took a 45 minute break afterwords, during which I updated my Facebook Profile picture so that my friends could see how cultured and giving I am. The next day, we cut down banana leaves and carried them to a garden project where they were to be used as shade for the plants. The rest of the day was spent patting each other on the back, taking pictures with children using our DSLRs, and trying to find a cafe with air conditioning. Hearts full and chins high with the knowledge that we made the world a better place, we departed Pasac with a traditional goodbye ceremony (We sang them Wagon Wheel and dressed up in their clothing) to Antigua, where we spent a couple days rewarding ourselves with greasy fried food and chocolate.

(Again, please note the above is strictly satire…except for the part about greasy fried food)

Some people today may argue that pairing travel and volunteer work, largely in the developing world (AKAVoluntourism) is ineffective, wasteful, and just an excuse for rich westerners to inflate their ego, spruce up their resumes, and travel to a foreign country. No approach to charity is without its flaws, and voluntourism is not perfect, but many positive effects of the practice are simply ignored or patronized. First, while certainly not large, volunteer work does leave an effect on communities. The relationships formed between locals and volunteers can at times be superficial, but I have firsthand witnessed genuine, caring relationships develop and last far past the two weeks of volunteering. Voluntourism is not about Westerners who "know better" coming in to save the day, but instead an opportunity for people from vastly different socioeconomic backrounds and cultures to work together for a common cause. Volunteers don´t pretend to have made a huge difference, its clear that their skills and timeframe do not allow for that. But to have people from truly different sides of humanity spend time together sharing culture, values, and space whilst working together for a positive cause is truly a beautiful thing.

Furthermore, Voluntourism also serves to expose unknowing Westerners to the reality of true poverty in the developing world. It can change lives and influence young people to strive to make a difference in the lives of others, whether they choose to do so locally or internationally. The real value in voluntourism lies in getting young people invested in ending global poverty so that the next generation of mankind will suffer less.

So although it may be easy to criticize your officemate´s trip to help build a school in rural Uganda as insincere or self-serving, please consider the value of exposing society´s power players to the reality of the 80% of humanity that struggles to survive  daily on less than the value of a Starbucks Latte.

Rwanda Genocide: Updates from East Africa

Translation: Hope

I espère you daaaaaaance (with Rwandans)!

KIGALI. NYABAGOGO STATION. 3:17 PM. We emerge into a sea of persistent and perspiring taxi drivers. As our butts are slowly recovering from the drive and our stomachs are crying for the pizza party to come later in the day, we skillfully navigate our way to our hostel.

We were greeted by paved roads, traffic lights, and newly developed buildings – a drastic change from our experiences in Uganda. Our first day was spent enjoying the luxuries of Kigali and preparing to learn about the Rwandan Genocide the following day. While we expected this to be an emotional day, we had no idea what we were in for. The morning was dedicated to learning about the details of the genocide at the official Kigali Genocide Memorial and Museum. From walls listing the names of the victims to a room full of stories of children affected by the terror, we each got the chance to reflect at our own pace and in our own way. Later that afternoon, we visited Nyamata Church and witnessed for ourselves the ruble and remains of some of those massacred in 1994. With heavy hearts, we headed back to town. However, our unexpected mode of transportation (bicycle taxis) helped lift our spirits. The next day, we took time to discuss, reflect, and process as we prepared for our week at Lake Kivu.

Our rustic accommodation.  We LOVED it!

Bonjour, L'Esperance (translation: hope)! After a winding and dusty bus ride through the mountains, we arrived to a sort of paradise among the hillside above Lake Kivu. Our accommodations, along with the views, were in TENTS. We spent our first day learning about the organization's history and the direction it's moving towards now. Before the Rwandan legislation to abolish orphanages was enacted on December 31st of 2014, L'Esperance operated as a haven for children in need. It was on its way to becoming an oasis for innovation of green technology and sustainability – they were even going to invent the world's first Kivu cheese! However, these projects were put on hold after the legislation passed, and L'Esperance was forced to seek a different mission. Today they are transitioning into becoming a home for teenage victims of rape and their babies. There are currently thirty girls and twenty -six babies (some still expecting to arrive), and they are all remarkable humans. Working alongside the girls this week, be it cultivating pineapple fields or pruning a eucalyptus forest, touched all of our hearts in unique ways. Most nights were spent learning locals songs and dancing until we were entirely drenched in sweat and our cheeks hurt from smiling. None of this would have been possible without the generosity and kind spirit of our dear friend Fanny, a young agricultural worker at L'Esperance. In addition to spending time with the girls and their babies, we repainted the organization's hillside sign and explored the nearby village, including a dip in the lake and a trip to the market. Some of us also had the opportunity to edit the girls' life stories alongside the director, Prince. His own story of survival through the genocide made the history of Rwanda feel so real for us. As one of five survivors of a 10,000-victim massacre, he embodies the resilience of the Rwandan people. We wound down from these days by gazing at the stars from our sleeping bags, enjoying spirited bonfires, and even going for a midnight swim.

Campfire Time!

L'Esperance provided such a special experience for all of us, and it's safe to say that we each left a piece of our hearts and feel that we could never give as much as we gained from this organization. We're so excited to move forward and face the challenges and joys ahead of us during our homestays in Morogoro, Tanzania!

Lakes, Yoga and Volcanos: Central America Updates from Lilly

Our group on the beautiful Lake Atitlan

We stayed on a beautiful farm on Lake Atitlan. This lake is northern of Guatemalan, in the highlands of the Sierra Madre de mountain range. Everyone here is very nice and friendly. Every morning we practice meditation at 6 a.m, and yoga sessions at 6:30 a.m. On this yoga farm they grow their own food and herbs. Every meal is vegan and gluten free, we also had fresh pineapples, strawberries, and papaya. We also participated in the caoco ceremony, tasting real chocolate along with feeling our flow of energy through people.

On the Road in Ecuador: South America Updates from Jake

The view from the bus

This week has been our student directed travel. We started in Tena and stayed for two extra days to go see the Jumandi Caves. We had a great time there in the dark. After that day in Tena we bought our tickets to Otalavo. After a long bus ride it was really relieving to get to a nice hostal, but figuring out who was going to stay in which room was irritating for everyone. With that settled we all went into town where we saw an amazing market place called Plaza de los Panchos. Everyone except for me and Sunte'Ohna bought alpaca sweaters. Gabriela bought two. On the ninth it was Sunte'Ohnas birthday and we all went out dancing. We had a blast. The day after Sunte'Ohnas birthday half the group went to Cotacachi which is big on leather working. A day later we went on an amazing hike around lake Cuicocha. The hike took us about three and a half hours and the distance was around eight and a half miles. It is a crater lake around a volcano. Almost everyone in our group got burnt through the clouds. Today is the twelfth and we had some QT time in the morning. Later tonight we are going to listen to Betsy's life map. We listened to Mac's life map yesterday. I think everyone knows how they will do theirs after hearing his. We will be leaving Otavalo Friday the thirteenth. We are heading towards Pucara a small village about an hour and a half away from Otavalo. That will be the end of the student directed travel. It was difficult because we were the first group to do it in Ecuador thus far in the carpe Diem program, but we made the best of it and had a blast of a time.

-Jake Timney

Buddha, bicycles and "Holi" water: India Updates

Can you find the Buddha?

Hinduism, and so India, had begun to make sense to our group thanks to plentiful immersion and instruction. We had started to understand this colorful country and its colorful religion as we left Varanasi for Bodhgaya. But since the nature of seeing the world is surprise after surprise, we were thrown for a loop as we arrived in this new city of Buddhism, where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Instead of the familiar portraits of Hindu Gods Shiva and Vishnu, we faced statues of Buddha and seas of monks.

Our group was overjoyed to find ourselves in the company of smiling monks as we stayed for three days at a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist monastery. We encountered monks everywhere: in their temples, in restaurants, and haggling alongside us in English for lower prices at Indian street shops. Being in Bodhgaya gave our group its first taste of Buddhism, with opportunities to visit temples of Burmese, Tibetan, and Thai origin, just to name a few. It also meant a trip to the Maha Bodhi Temple, a grand and ornate place which is visited by folks from all over the world who come to see the holy Bodhi tree under which Prince Siddhartha Gotama sat thousands of years ago, and became "the Buddha".

We also arrived in Bodhgaya just in time for Holi, the festival of happiness. Little did we know that Holi is also the festival of throwing remarkable amounts of colored powder and water at unsuspecting tourists who naively thought that they would make it through the day with the same color shirt they started with.

On Holi, our group took a bike adventure towards the Buddha Cave, where Gotama Buddha is said to have sat in meditation. We had an unpredictable, splendid and unforgettable adventure, which inclued a moment of worry when Hava's bike chain split and fell off of her bike in the middle of a small village…but not to fear! Our fearless leader Topher was there to save the day by fixing her chain using his two hands and a nearby rock. Some of the village people seemed to think this spectacle was the funniest thing they had ever seen. They also took our stop as an invitation to being dumping colored water on us. Though we never quite made it to the Buddha Cave, we managed to circle the entire small mountain range which holds the cave, and ride through several Holi parades that showered our whole crew in colors galore. The trip ended with all of our bikes roped to the top of a lone rickshaw, with all of us smushed together inside. Although the trip didn't go quite the way we planned, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

The rest of our time in Bodhgaya was peaceful, and we made our way via overnight train to the city of Kolkata. Kolkata is another absolutely unique city. It is busy, loud, and lively, filled with endless street peddlers and food carts, as well as fully Westernized malls and movie theaters. Every morning, we wake up early and walk to the Mother Teresa home, where we each volunteer until noon at one of the various homes founded by Mother Teresa herself. These volunteer houses include a hospice-center, a home for handicapped women, and home for handicapped children.

It has been profoundly humbling to be able to share time and space with the residents, patients, other volunteers, and nuns. I am beginning to feel sure that none of us will walk away from this experience unmoved or unchanged. Each day we choose to face both immense joy and immense challenge. As one of my old friends once said, "struggle is a companion of passion, The two need each other to exist." And here we are, submerged deep in both and so much better for it.

Farewell to Uganda-Updates from East Africa

After a bittersweet farewell to the children at SNEC, we headed to Bukinda primary school for four more days of home-cooked meals (Mexican food galore!) and goofing around with kids. It wasn't all just fun and games; however, as we helped construct a play structure and tire swing using fresh lumber and assisted in teaching a few lessons. While the workload wasn't super heavy, our abundant free time allowed us to get to know one another through dance parties, yoga lessons, essential oil classes, and intense card games with one of our hosts, Agnes! However, we are still adjusting to how service work is performed in Uganda and are challenging ourselves to not set expectations based on our preconceived ideas.

Before we set out on our canoe trek on Lake Bunyonyi, we had a chance to explore Kabale on our own and get a taste of what solo travel in a foreign country is like. Some of us hit the dance floor on Friday at a club called "Mist" and showcased our mutual love of 90's R&B.
Early on Saturday we departed for Lake Bunyonyi and embarked in dugout canoes for our first day of trekkin', all while admiring the beautiful hillside communities surrounding us. That night we ate a delicious home-cooked meal at Mama Bena's, a local woman who hosts Edirisa groups, hiked to the top of the island at sunset, and gathered around a bonfire for storytelling. Sunday began with short canoe ride to the island of the Batwa people, who were driven out of their homes in the forest in the early nineties. We were briefly introduced to their way of life, including learning how to shoot a bow and arrow. It was interesting to learn about the different class systems within the tribal system, as most of us were unaware of the oppression of Ugandans by Ugandans.

The rest of the day consisted of an eight-mile hike in the mountains accompanied by a killer quad workout, frequent renditions of songs from The Sound of Music, and a tasty mountaintop picnic. We took a dip at Tom's Island to cool off as we waited for yet another delicious home-cooked meal and cozy bonfire. After another tent slumber party, we awoke to homemade chapatis and a tour of the island led by Tom, himself. He started off by showing us the tree under which he was born and explained how he inherited the island from his grandfather who was also born there. Additionally, he told us about the older generations' way of attaining a wife, which essentially involved kidnapping and potentially raping a woman, thereby trapping her into the marriage. Happy International Women's Day, right? We also talked to our knight in shining armor, our ray of sunshine, our diligent guide, Owen, about his opinion on President Museveni (a very controversial figure in Uganda) and homosexuality. Our last destination on the trek was a craft shop owned by a woman named Anna who taught us how to weave papyrus bracelets.

While we are all going to miss waking up to the beautiful lake views, we look forward to the adventures ahead in Kigali, Rwanda!