We Travel World

Prepare for a long one today everyone!

7/3/09:

Hamjambo everyone! What a great weekend it was…let’s begin with Friday, but first as promised, Thursday’s Kiswahili lesson.

Numbers:
0 → sifari
1 → moja
2 → mbili
3 → tutu
4 → nne
5 → tano
6 → sita
7 → saba
8 → nane
9 → tisa
10 → kumi

And if you want to know how to say 1987 it would be….elfa mjoa mia tisa themanini na saba…! That’s pretty much all we focused on the whole time, so not much else to share. Now onto Friday’s class..

We had a speaker from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda speak to us, Dr. Alhagi Marong, from Gambia. He was so interesting! He works as a legal officer, for the chambers (which I’ll explain in a moment). So first we learned how the ICTR is set up; it began in 1994 after the genocide in Rwanda, in which Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu’s were slaughtered by Hutu’s (800,000 deaths are estimated to have occurred). The UN determined that Rwanda had caused a threat to international peace and security, which is what the UN strives to maintain, so the ICTR was set-up as a tool for holding individuals, not states, responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICTR is split into three sections: chambers (judges), prosecutor / defense (lawyers) and registrar (administrative head). What’s interesting about the ICTR is that judges not only make rulings, but they can also make rules like, if a piece of evidence is allowed, or something along those lines. They sort of serve as a Congress and President in one, if you will. Now there’s some distinction between the judges but it’s a little complex so instead I’ll give you some numbers: since the first case in 1996, the ICTR has tried 45 people, convicted 39 and acquitted 6. Something that has come out of the ICTR that has been really crucial is that rape and sexual violence was considered an act of genocide, and that can now serve as precedent (it can’t serve as legally binding precedent because the tribunal is ad hoc, but it can be sighted in the future in other cases / tribunals). Dr. Marong told us the UN has forced a completion date upon the ICTR, to finish all cases by 2010 and all appeals by 2012, which has created a sense of urgency that didn’t seem too favorable.

It was such a rich, interesting presentation and Dr. Marong was so well spoken and clear, it was really a great presentation. On Monday we’re having more speakers from the ICTR and on Wednesday we’re taking a tour and hopefully getting to sit in on a trial if there is one going on. We got to finish at 12:30 and then Tom, Carrie, Jessie, Taina and I went to this place called McMoody’s for lunch. It was SO GOOD because it had American food…hahahaha. I got fries, a veggie burger, a real Pepsi and had a few sips of Tom’s chocolate milkshake. I know I’m in Africa, but I needed a break from the rice and curry! We spent the afternoon just relaxing, reading, etc. After dinner some people were going out to do an “Arusha by night” pub crawl with a local guide, but I elected not to go because they were doing a lot of walking, and since I knew we’d be walking a lot on Saturday, I figured my foot would need the rest. Not to mention I didn’t want to be hung over on Saturday morning when we will take a daladala! So I ended up just hanging out with Emily and giving myself a pedicure that was much needed. We had a big day lined up for Saturday…

7/4/09:

Well happy 4th to everyone back home! I certainly had a 4th of July to remember.

Our day started around 8:30, we got up, had breakfast and then walked to the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Board to meet our guides for camping trip to Tengeru, about 12km outside of Arusha. We met our guides, Noel (who they called Christmas…lol) and Kulnahum (not sure of the spelling of his name..) who walked us to the area where we could catch a daladala; you’ll remember in an earlier blog I explained a daladala, but here’s a recap: They’re independently operated “buses” (really they’re vans, not big buses like we have in the states) and people decorate them with crazy stuff, like Bob Marley or Jay Z, or Obama or Jesus slogans, people load up on them until they’re packed to the gills and the worker guy like hangs out the window the whole time. They’re cheap, fun and ridiculous! So we got on the daladala and then got off at Tengeru. It was a very rural village that we walked through and then we got to this beautiful little alcove, with little huts, a gazebo / porch thing, fresh green grass, nice little bathhouses / bathrooms and beautiful landscaping. We got a little tour and found out that they use cow poo to power a lot of the center; they collect the poo in a vat and let it ferment, then they use the methane to heat their gas stoves and lamp. The rest of the poo is put in an irrigation tube and used as fertilizer for the corn stalks around the center. How resourceful and eco-friendly! I thought it was so cool, especially because little things like that make a huge difference and that’s the type of development I’m interested in; eco-development, using the natural resources you have in a smart, effective way.

So we sat down and had some delicious lemongrass and ginger tea with some delicious fried root / potato thing that I can’t remember the name of (I’ll ask one of the girls…by the way, it was me, Emily, Carrie, Jessie, Molly and Flora and Kara, but they didn’t camp overnight) and got our itinerary for the day. We met the woman who sort of started the organization, and they called her Momma Gladness, and she was the cutest thing ever! There was also a really cute, sweet old dog that had hung around Momma Gladness for like 15 years…we named him Bruno. I petted him, even though everyone told me not to because he probably he fleas, but he was so sweet and old, I couldn’t resist ☺ So after our tea and snack, our guides took us through a village to the coffee fields. We picked up some adorable kids a long the way, who came running out of their houses when they saw us coming. We got a great explanation of the way coffee grows and how you have to take such good care of the plants for them to flourish, and how they plant banana trees above the coffee plants to provide shade and protection. It’s so crazy because the coffee plant doesn’t look like what you would expect…it looks like it would have berries, not coffee beans. So we walked back through a different forest / village area and got back to the oasis (as I like to call it) and from there we made our own coffee!! It was sooo cool. First you poured the beans into this wooden drum and punched them with these long wooden rods, and that removed the husks. You had to remove a few by hand after that, but for the most part all the husks came off. Then we poured the beans, which are like a cream color at this point, into a terracotta pot, with a little fire going on beneath it. This was used to roast the beans until they got a really dark, rich black. Then the beans were poured into another wooden drum and pounded with the rods and that ground up all the coffee. You could smell the fresh grinds as you pounded the beans, it was delicious. Then we poured the rinds into boiling water and then poof, homemade coffee! It was really strong and rich and delicious. The guides helped us a lot, but we still feel like we made our own. They gave us the leftovers and I’m going to find a little bag to take some home with me.

After coffee we had lunch (or before, I can’t remember), which was SO delicious; Momma Gladness made it. We had chipati, rice, fresh lentils, delicious bananas and a fresh juice made of guava, mango, avocado and banana. It was so amazing. From lunch / coffee making, we headed to the local market. I should explain a little bit about Tengeru first before continuing…Tengeru is close to the base of Mt. Meru and is home to many, many Meru (both of our guides were Meru). The goal of the cultural center is to bring back the tradition of the Merus; the Maasai have held onto their culture, and even those who are integrated into society will wear their traditional garb on “casual Friday” at the office (no joke), but the Meru have sort of lost their culture, which is really sad because it was originally the chief of the Meruland that went to the UN asking for independence. Nyere, the President at the time (1960s, and also the man who our peace research center is named after) ended up asking not only for Meruland, but all of Tanzania. So anyhow, the center is trying to bring back the Meru culture, and Mt. Meru is very, very important to them. So this marketplace is mostly Meru’s who live around the mountain or out in the rural dessert areas, and they come into town on Wednesdays and Saturdays to sell their goods. They bring everything: fresh fresh fresh veggies, clothes, fabric, shoes, rice and spices. This market was so much better than Arusha because it was just a local, Meru people, selling their goods and not forcing anything in your face. They were all friendly and nice. It was SUPER crowded since it’s only open two days, but it was fun I liked navigating my way through, smelling all the different smells (good and bad) and just feeling like I was part of the ebb and flow of it all. From the market, we headed to Lake Diluti. Lake Diluti is also very important to the Meru…it’s a closed lake so the water actually comes from underground streams, which start from Mt. Meru. The story behind the lake is that the three daughters of the chief went out to collect firewood one day and there was a flood. One of the daughters was swept away in the flood. When elders from the tribe went to search for her, they came upon Lake Diluti and saw the girl smiling, standing in the middle of the lake with a huge tree (they have trees that they call “peace trees” because Meru people would broker peace treaties with each other under these trees). After this, they decided that Lake Diluti was a very important, sacred place and they would make their sacrifices there. It was a huge lake, so beautiful and serene. We just sat for a while not talking, looking at the sunset reflecting off the water. It was so nice.

After the lake, Kara and Flora left with our other guide, Raphael (who I had a great conversation with about American and African politics…everyone here LOVES Obama, it’s such an awesome feeling to know that our president is respected around the world again, and giving people hope. He said it really said a lot about America and Americans that we elected a Blackman; he said, “Now we are all truly connected.”), and the rest of us went back to the center.

We washed up and had yet another delicious dinner…more chipati, rice, chickpeas, beans, lentils, bananas and fresh juice. The son of Momma Gladness took us down to his house, which he rents out to volunteers of the organization he created. He helped set-up the cultural center with his mother and he also set up a non-profit which does all sort of community development projects. Volunteers, who stay as short as two weeks or as long as 9 months, live in his house and work in the local Meru and Maasai communities (most of them were Americans, which I thought was great, and one of them goes to NYU for grad school….maybe it’s a sign!). We got a few beers and sat outside of our camp, which was on the front lawn of the guy’s house…haha. But they left the door unlocked for us all night so we could use the bathroom. Usually people camp at the center, but a big tour group had come through that night, so they used up all the tent room at the center. It was a great end to an amazing day…just sitting and talking, looking up at the MASSIVE African sky. There was a wedding going on, so there was some great reggae in the background and we had a nice chat with Momma Gladness’ son (can’t remember his name, I’ll ask Emily). Sleeping was a bit rough, it was cold and we had sleeping bags but no pillows, and I’m already a bad insomniac as it is. But somehow, my ipod blocked out all noise (there were apparently roosters clucking and dogs barking all night) and the music lasted clear through to the morning…

7/5/09:
In the morning, we woke up around 8 to enjoy a delicious breakfast of tea with milk and honey, more of the fried root (something with a v…vasana? I’ll ask Emily) and some fresh fruit. It was again, delicious. We went back up to the center to say goodbye to Noel, who was making coffee with another group, Momma Gladness and Bruno of course, then Kulnahum took us back into town on a daladala (this one had Bob Marley pictures all over it and “LEGALIZE” in big letters on the front and back windows…haha).

My plan for the rest of the day is to relax, workout, get some laundry done and some homework / book reading (Sam fyi, I finished the White Tiger in like 2 days, couldn’t put it down, it was FABULOUS. I’ve moved onto the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency which is very good so far). It was a great weekend…a great escape from Arusha. I really felt like I saw more of this country, met more real, local people, saw real, local (not city) culture. It was exactly what I needed.

All around great 4th of July weekend ☺
Love and hugs to everyone…
Kwaheri <3

Oh PS: Working on uploading pictures…they should be up later today.