Saturday, June 22, 2013

A Mermaid, Dolphins, and Crawling Through a Cave….

And believe it or not, all for the sake of learning!

Mermaid: Last Friday during class we somehow got on the topic of mythical creatures.  Naturally, the Little Mermaid came up.  Our teacher, Omar, didn’t know the term “mermaid”, so we did our best to describe that it was half fish/half woman that lived “under da sea”.  He went outside, asked a friend the Swahili word for it, and came back excited to share a story with us!  He told us that he had, in fact, seen a mermaid! He told us that a few years ago some fishermen caught a mermaid here on the Island, brought “her” into the sokoni (market), and he saw “her” with his own eyes.  We seriously could not stop laughing.  We kept asking him to describe what this mermaid looked like.  He said that her bottom half was a fish, she had a woman’s chest, but that she did not have a pretty face like we had described.  We kindly told him that mermaids weren’t real, and it was most likely a type of fish that had some woman-like features.  He insisted that it was a mermaid, and he said that people from all around came to see her.  Then, he told us that they cut her up and ate the bottom half of her.  Everyone refused to eat the top half of her, though.  What a waste!  Needless to say, we had a hard time getting back on track after that story.  (Add that to the list of why this place is awesome: They have mermaids!  Now you know you want to come visit me!)

Dolphins: This past week we actually had two fieldtrips!  Last Saturday we went to the south point of the Island to visit the oldest mosque here.  This time our guide wasn’t as nice and only spoke Swahili (j/k, he was actually nice- I just couldn’t understand half of what he told us. BUT the more people speak only Swahili to me, the more I am able to pick up and understand!)  After the tour of the mosque we HAD to go swim with the dolphins.  There were seriously dolphin everywhere.  It’s like a fun game here, though.  Don’t picture SeaWorld where you stand there and the dolphins come swim up to you and let you grab on.  No, it’s more like you are in a boat driving through the ocean and you see dolphin and head towards them.  The driver goes in front of the where they are swimming and you jump off towards them/ on top of them like you are trying to wrestle a bear.  You swim with them until they swim away, then you hop back in the boat and repeat the process again and again.  It’s pretty awesome. 


Crawling through a cave:  Our second fieldtrip this week was on Wednesday.  It was definitely my favorite thing we have done so far!  We went to visit the Slave Caves and Slave Chambers.  In the late 1800’s, this Island played a major part in the slave trade.  They gave us the history of the cave (again in Swahili) while we were above the ground.  From my limited ability to understand, the guide explained that the slaves were forced to walk through the cave all the way to the ocean, where they would wait in the chambers until the dhows arrived to take them away.  He told us that the cave doesn’t go all the way to the ocean anymore, but that we were going to come out through a hole in the ground part of the way through.  “I love adventure! Piece of Cake!”- I thought.  I assumed they would have created a path for tourist to walk through to get the experience- you know with lighted guardrails.  Nope.  Pitch dark (Except for the flash on my camera and a tiny flashlight) and we crawled, slid, climbed, dangled, and wiggled our way through the cave.  It was no “Piece of Cake”- I was dripping in sweat and covered in dirt- but it was awesome!  


At the end of the tunnel, you have to crawl under a rock and out of a hole by grabbing on to a tree.  Luckily, my friend snapped a pic of me coming out of the hole.  This is a picture of success!





Had I known THIS is what the slave cave was really going to be like, I wouldn’t have worn my long skirt, flip flops, and a white shirt.  The suggested attire for the tour was pants, tennis shoes, and a dark colored shirt- which we were told about AFTER.


In class yesterday, Simba (classmate from Zimbabwe) and Omar (teacher) were talking about African cultures and traditions.  They were talking about some CRAZY stuff and my reaction to some of it  (Ok- to most of it) was, “No way!”  Simba looked at me and kindly said, “Ginger. T- I- A”.  He is right, my friends.  This Is Africa. From Mermaids, to dolphin wrangling, to crawling through a cave in a long skirt, flops, and a head covering, TIA.  You never know what adventure you will find yourself on or what stories you might hear.

I know I shared some fun stories above (and I really am enjoying my class and field trips), but I have been spending a lot of my time studying Swahili.  So much so, that kichwa kinauma- my head is hurting!  I am thankful for all of your prayers regarding language study.  God has truly been enabling me to understand this language way beyond what I thought was possible.  I obviously still have A LOT to learn, but I am grateful for the progress that has been made in these first 3 weeks of class! I hired a tutor yesterday to give me some more individualized practice and instruction.  Josephine is a sweet older lady who lives a few houses down from me.  She will be coming over two afternoons a week, for two hours, to help me practice what I am learning in class.  I am really looking forward to it!

Also, I just realized it’s June 22nd, which means I said goodbye to you all 1 month ago!  It is crazy how time flies!  Although I’m loving life here, I do miss you all!  I have been blessed with many great friends, family members, and brothers and sisters in Christ.  I have continued to be encouraged by each of you and appreciate your continued prayers more than you know!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

I Am Learning


Every night, there is a guy who rides around on his bike selling bread, and usually around 6 o’clock, he rings my doorbell.  Tuesday night was no different, but I didn’t need any bread because I was leaving to go to the mainland for a couple of days.  I went outside and confidently said in Swahili that I didn’t need any bread today because I was going to the mainland tomorrow and asked him to return again on Friday.  He understood, said he would be back on Friday, and rode off.  I was so proud of my skills and was smiling from ear to ear!  Like he understood me! And he seemed happy about what I told him.   I later started to think about what I told him and realized that it probably wasn't the smartest thing for me to tell him!  I basically told this guy that no one would be home for two days, please come steal my things!  Luckily, I returned home a little bit ago, and everything was still here!  Although I’m excited about using the Swahili that I am learning, I guess I need to have some sort of a filter as to the information I give to people!  Oops.  I am learning.


Wednesdays are our field trip day at school (my new favorite day of the week!), but this week I skipped out to go see some friends on the mainland.  There was a group from CFC flying through an airport only 20 minutes away, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see them!  There was only one problem- I didn’t have my passport!  I am in the process of getting my work permit so my passport has been in the immigration office.  I was told a copy of my passport would work to fly, but I had a hard time wrapping my American mind around the idea that a copy works.  I am learning that TIA (This Is Africa), and things are very different. A copy, indeed, is just as good as the original.  
I was encouraged, however, to go ahead and get my drivers license to prove that I live here, just in case.  I have friends who have connections, and the process wasn’t nearly as painful as it would have been if I had gone by myself!  I was VERY nervous that they were going to make me take a driving test. I was literally sweating at the thought.  I haven’t driven here yet (and don’t plan on it because it scares me to death!  I will drive on the smaller Island, where there is one road and very few cars).  The steering wheel is on right side of the car (opposite of US) and you drive on the opposite side of the road.  There are no speed limits or lines, and you pretty much just do what you want and hope other cars stop for you.  I was told that if I had to take a test, I needed to make sure I drove fast and honk my horn a lot in order to pass.  I was also told that no one has ever failed.  While that would have been assuring to some people, it only made me more nervous.  I was going to be the first person here to ever fail the driving test!  How embarrassing!  Thankfully, I didn’t have to take a test! The guy asked me if I could drive a 600cc motorbike and an RV, and after I unconfidently told him yes, he issued me my license. There was one problem with it, but we decided that it wasn’t necessary to fix because I really just needed it for identification.  Can you find the mistake? I’m thinking that maybe it can get me some extra privileges on the Island  :)

I was able to fly with my license as identification with no problems!
Here is a pic on the way over to the mainland- Pilot: Eric, Co-Pilot: Tangawizi


This is a pic of the south point of the island from the airplane.  It is truly so beautiful!  I love that this is my new home!


We had about 3 hours to kill while we were waiting for the CFC team to arrive, so we went to the local mall.  Guess what we found?? A bowling ally and arcade!  For less than $6, I lost terribly at bowling, air hockey, and a motorcycle race.  I'm blaming it on the head covering and long skirt, because I am still learning how to function in them both.  Although I am extremely competitive and hate to lose, it did make the time fly by!  For about two hours, I forgot that I was even in Africa.


It was WONDERFUL to see many friends and get a little taste of home!  They blessed us with a sweet time of fellowship, worship, and prayer!  AND extra granola bars, medicine, chocolate, and all sorts of goodies that they had left over/brought for us!  I didn’t get any pics of the CFC team on my camera, but they are all doing great and have some awesome stories to share about the work God did during their two weeks in this country!  Excited for you all to get to hear from them!

Also, thanks to all who were checking up on me about my health! I have been feeling great this whole week!  THANK YOU so much for the prayers!  School has been awesome still and I am learning so many new words each day.  I have to study A LOT to keep up with the pace of our class, but am truly enjoying it! Continued prayers for language learning and local friends to practice with would be great!  


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Spice Farm Fieldtrip


So our fieldtrip was AWESOME!  Actually today has been awesome!  Everyone who is taking a Kiswahili for Foreigners course (no matter what level) goes on the fieldtrips.  That meant I got to see my friends from Boston University, as well as meet some new folks who are here learning the language for various reasons and for various amounts of time.  All friendly and fun to be around.

They split us into two groups- Beginners and Good.  Haha. I was, of course, in the beginner group, which meant our tour was in English- or more like what I call Swenglish.  I took lots of pictures and did my best to spell the Kiswahili words they were telling us.  I have already made a date with my Kiswahili-English dictionary later tonight so I can figure out how to correctly spell them. 

We got to taste all the fruits and spices and the orange was definitely my favorite!  Don’t ask me what it is in Swahili, though.  I will let you know after my study session tonight!  After hearing the name of a hundred fruits and spices, they all kind of blend together :)



I even got a picture with tangawizi!  It was a must.


After the fieldtrip, we got to go home to study rather than continue class for two more hours.  That was GREAT news to me because I’m still not feeling well.  Prayers for my health would be greatly appreciated!  Missing even one day of class would be very hard to catch up on! 

Usually after class, I catch the “509 to Chukwani” by myself, but today, my two classmates, Chad and Jamie, came with me!  They live near me but had never experienced the dala dala.  It was probably my favorite dala experience thus far!  We actually had people talking to us and they were impressed with our Kiswahili! (Or they atleast appeared to be impressed.  They totally could have been making fun of us – actually that is quite possible.)

I get off the dala dala at the street and then walk a little bit to my house every day.  Usually I see cows, chickens, and trash- but no people.  Today, I ran into some little kids and I started greeting them in Swahili.  They didn’t expect me to be able to speak to them and it was pretty funny to see their faces.  I’m pretty sure they are never going to leave me alone now.

Thank you, Lord, for all these new friends!




Start of School


I wrote this update yesterday (Tuesday), but couldn’t connect to the internet to post it. Just keep in mind that when it says yesterday, it means Monday :) Another post about today's trip will be posted shortly!


I tried to go to bed early on Sunday night so I would be ready for my first day of school (like all good students should), but I had a hard time falling asleep!  I had a very painful stomachache and I couldn’t sleep the majority of the night. After throwing up multiple times, my stomach felt much better, but I was dehydrated and weak because I had nothing left in my system.  (Side note on being dehydrated- I’m having a hard time finding a balance here because I know I need to drink a lot of water, but I don’t want to have to go to the bathroom all the time.  The toilets out in public are holes in the ground and I still haven’t mastered the squat- give me a couple more weeks of my Insanity workouts and I should have the leg muscles to pull it off! Haha)

Before getting out of bed on Monday, I spent time in prayer asking God to strengthen me to be able to make it through my first day of classes. And that He did!  I didn’t feel great, but I didn’t throw up anymore and I was able to sit through 6 hours of class yesterday! (2 hours was a repeat- actually a very good review- because they switched which class I was in).  At first I was with 7 students from Boston University.  They are only here for one month studying Kiswahili and they only come for 2 hours of lessons every morning.  I am now in a class with a young couple from Arkansas who will be teaching English for a different company here on the big island, and they are very awesome.  We are all on the same level and our class has been very fun so far.  Our teacher’s name is Omar and he does a good job of keeping us entertained.  He loves to sing songs to help us remember the material and I have taught him a couple of songs myself.  One being Hakuna Matata from the Lion King! He loved it and made us sing it over and over.  And over. I feel like I have learned so much in only two days.  He moves very quickly and gives us a lot to review for homework.  Hopefully I will be able to keep up!  My brain is working very hard and I’m only on day 2! 

Here is a pic of my classmates: Chad, Jamie, and Cynthia (Cynthia joined us today but will only come to class once a week)



Here’s a pic of my mwalimu (teacher), Omar:


At the end of class today, I found out some GREAT news!  We get to go on a fieldtrip every Wednesday!!!  I LOVE fieldtrips!  So tomorrow we will go to a spice farm and learn about all the different spices found on the islands.  I’m bringing a video camera to record what they tell us because I will not be able to remember the names of all the different ones. I know there are a lot!