It's been extremes ups and downs the past 24 hours but it is finally up again. It all started with my seminar presentation. For each class we have a seminar which is a smaller group that discusses an issue from the lectures. Everyone in the seminar is supposed to present once in the semester and since my semester is short, I've been trying to get them all done as soon as possible. So I joined the group for presentations in Democracy and Elections and had the ultimate Tanzanian culture experience. What should have taken 10 minutes to come to a position and then divide up work ended up taking 2 and a half hours and in traditional Tanzanian fashion we had to talk all around the issue. Just when I thought we'd reach a conclusion someone would say something and we would go off on a new tangent and come to a new position. It was so frustrating! Then to make matters worse, when everyone brought their research back they decided we should only have one presenter and they picked me! Thus, I had to learn everyone's material and try to slow my language down and speak British essentially so people in the class could understand me. It was very frustrating, but it turned out well as I presented today on how Africa is not going through a third reverse wave towards authoritarianism. I think I scared them though as I used a banana as a visual aid and squished it. Oh well, who cares about taboos!

Also frustrating was pictures. I have been trying to figure out pictures and how to get them online and yesterday spent about half the day trying different computers and methods. Finally, Gerard helped me out and between him, me, and his computer we got the pics ready to go online! So scroll down and you'll find them!

The reason for hte push to get the pictures on line was that today was School Picture Day at school! It was so much fun. I took my polaroid camera and my digital and every student received a polaroid picture of themselves. They were thrilled and the best part was how they all did little poses for the picture. Very funny. I haven't downloaded those pictures yet, but I think tomorrow I'll put up all the students' head shots if you want to see the kids I teach! They have an end of the year test next Friday so that is the big news from Mlimani Shule!

Now I am going to head out to Mwenge to get some pants made for me! We'll see how it goes. The internet's being slow so the pics will be up later. Get excited. There's a lot of them!

It's been 100 days, or so my mom says. That's an uber long time. I feel like we should have a party like in elementary school on the 100th day. I guess I'll go to church to celebrate. We're pretty crazy people here.

Last night we DID had a crazy experience though. We went to Bend it Like Beckham at the European Film Festival, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then we all piled in the car to leave and we hadn't even gone one block when a policeman stood in front of our car and told us to pull over. We did (stupid mistake), and he told us we were going the wrong way down a one way and that they were going to take our car and take us to court. It was so frustrating! Ayubuh argued with them and we all stood around protesting for almost an hour. We knew exactly what he wanted and despite Swahili protest, we eventually paid the 10 dollar bribe and went on our way to Bilicans to go dancing. I was so mad though at Tanzanian legal practices, the fact that police on foot can just stop you and threated you with a corrupt legal system. It's either go to the corrupt legal system or pay the corrupt police. What do you do? Then to make matters worse, on the way to Bilicanas two more police tried to stop us. Our Tanzanian friend Ayubuh who was in the car said "DRIVE ON!" and we did, screeching past the protesting police. I guess that's how it works here. Run or pay. So that was our exciting night in Dar last night, a lesson in Tanzanian law I guess.

Today is chill with church and some homework. Anna's parents arrived on Thursday and they are on safari all week, but we'll see them again next weekend, perhaps in Zanzibar again!

I've faced the facts: I suck at laundry. Today I attempted to do laundry the tanzanian way. They have this bar of soap that Anna O swears makes your clothes the closest to white they can be in Tanzania. Well, I took out the soap and an hour and a half later went and got the woolite. All the Tanzanians were giving me tips and I think I basically sloshed water around without cleaning anything. Then to make matters worse, or more entertaining, I hung my clothes on the line and it started raining! It's probably better though b/c I'm sure i didn't rinse properly or something. Who knows. Needless to say I won't complain about walking down the stair to put my clothes in the washing machine at Luther again. Or at least not for a while.

Anna's parents arrived safetly here and we've had a great time with them. We all went out for Indian food on Thursday night along with two Danish girls Erin met, Ayubuh our Tanzania friend, and Des our friend from South Africa. It was quite an international event and so tasty! The Osterbur's were extremely generous too and bought dinner for everyone! I was stunned. Very kind. Yesterday Anna gave them the shock and awe tour of Tanzania and we all went to Mama Mshigeni's house for a traditional Tanzanian meal. Mama Mshigeni is like the coordinator of study abroad here and is in charge of all us crazy internationals! We had a great meal though and a fun time. Now Anna and her folks left for safiri in the north and then a trip to Zanzibar, while the rest of us are here in the lab. Time is flying though and soon the time will be up.

I got more pictures from our trip coordinator from the beginning of the trip, so if you want to see me posing with some maasi warriors or painting the local school, check em out! A second look back

We've had a troubling occurances here at the University. Two American girls, both on a program from Brown University, have had their rooms broken into and had things stolen, from passports to envelopes. Needless to say we are a bit on edge, so that has been kind of an unfortunately occurance. Until now, I have felt so safe and secure here. Now though I'm looking my room everytime I go to the bathroom even. Too bad.

The rest of the day includes homework, watching English Premier League football, and watching Bend it Like Beckham at the British Council. Sounds like a fun day! Tomorrow might be a beach day. We'll see!

It's a scorcher today and I'm already dripping just from walking to the lab. I had an interesting experience this morning trying to call Rebekah in Australia. Normally, I go the cell phone route because it's my only option, and it's $2.20, so needless to say our calls are short and not very frequent. Today though I went to check out a new store that advertised international calls. At first glance it looked great! It was only $.90 a minute! I went though and this new business had there computer set up all wrong and they needed it to make the call, so I was there for an hour and a half essentially setting up their business and installing software and such. Then right when everything was ready, the network quit! I couldn't make the call and was only able to make the 4 minute call. Sad day...

Tonight Anna's parents come which should be great! We'll celebrate by going out to eat! Should be fun. Saturday, big plans...Bend it Like Beckham is playing at the Euro film festival so I think we'll head there. Otherwise, a quiet week in dar. Enjoy the snow!

Happy November! I had a great time for Halloween here! Thanks to candy sent by June Brown and some pictures sent from my mom, I got to celebrate by
teaching my 5th grade kids about Halloween. It was hilarious! I taught them how to
trick or treat and they all had to say who they were dressed like, the
pattern went like this: "I'm David Beckham, I'm Jennifer Lopez, I'm David
Beckham, I'm 50 Cent, I'm David Beckham, I'm George Bush (no joke), I'm
David Beckham, I'm Ashanti...etc." Pretty much name your favorite black R
and B/Rap artist and they were represented...and of course david beckham.
It was fun.

They cracked up too b/c my mom sent a letter with scanned
pics of different costumes we had worn in the past; they couldn't believe that i too had once been a kid. It was great fun. The day culminated by teaching them "trick
or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" I could still hear them singing it when I was halfway back to the university. More corruption by their American teacher! It was great fun though, and surprising difficult to explain Halloween. My roommate even asked me what the difference between a witch and a wizard was...interesting question! So, Halloween was a blast and things have been going well.

We're all enjoying free European movies at the film festival in town and last night I went out dancing with three Swedes, two Tanzanians and a partridge in a pear tree. It was a great mental exercise as much of the conversation was in Swedish (which is very similar to Norwegian!) and Swahili. My head was slightly sore by the end of the night, but it felt great to be able to jump languages like that! Today is quiet, probably church at 4:30 and a movie at 7:30 at the British Council. I hope all is well in the States...enjoy the snow!

And Zanzibar...I'm going crazy tonight with 3 blogs, but hey, do it while I'm in the mood I guess.

Yeah, we left Friday for Zanzibar! Zanzibar is a small island off of mainland Tanzania and it is beautiful. Way back when it was the center for the Arabic slave trade and to this day is roughly 95% Muslim. It is a different world from Tanzania as we soon found out!

Well, Anna and I heard from our friends from Luther who lived in Tanzania last fall about the legendary "Flying Horse" boat to Zanzibar. There are three boats that leave almost every other hour to Zanzibar, two of them costing about 15 thousand Tsh. for a resident and taking 2 hours and the legendary Flying Horse, (bequithed the Dying Horse by Zack and Mike last year) costing half as much and taking twice as long. Of course Anna and I took the dying horse and it seemed nice at first. But then we started moving. It was so choppy and soon people all around us were throwing up in plastic grocery bags! I was getting there, so I took a dramimine and Anna and I abandoned our "first class" seats for the main deck for some fresh air. I fell asleep eventually and that made the trip pass rather quickly. We tried to play chess but our pieces started sliding from side to side as the boat rocked. Well, three and a half hours later we arrived and we were not swamped by cabs, mostly because we were on the crappy, cheap boat I think. But, we found the great little hotel that Erin and Lindsey had book earlier in the day when they arrived and settled in.

That night, we ate at someone's house! It was a "restaurant" but really was a families porch. They cooked us a traditional Zanzibarian meal which was awesome! We headed to bed early and got up to go on a spice tour! We were in a van that soon filled up with a Spainard couple, two belgian friends and us. It was fun! We headed out of Stone Town, the main city where we were staying into the countryside where spices are harvested. Zanzibar is famous for its spice production and we were able to see cinnamon, cloves, lemongrass, all spice, and so many other spices i can't remember! Mostly though, I don't remember because we spent most of the spice tour talking to these American kids our age on the Semester at Sea! They were in Tanzania for 5 days or something like that and were so great. Zack, Amy, and Rae were their names and they came from California, Wheaton College in Illinois, and near St. Louis. We had so much fun talking and despite rain on our tour we had fun and decided to meet later that day.

Well, we shopped a bit in Stone Town with them and went to the fish market where there are sellers everywhere and fresh fish and fried food. I had the greatest drink ever: sugar cane juice with a hint of lemon. wow! It was great. I had three of them along with my nan, meat, and chips! After much chat and hanging out back at the Semester at Sea kids' hotel, a few of us went out to go dancing...unfortunately it was the first night of Ramadan and there was no dancing to be had in Stone Town so we settled for a bar and and more sugar cane drinks! We parted later that evening and exchanged numbers because they were coming to Dar on Monday. Anna and I headed back Sunday morning on the fast boat and made it back in time to play guitar for church that afternoon.

Monday we met up with our S.A.S. friends again and were able to show off our home. We took them to all the markets, made them ride the dalas, and give them the real Tanzania. It was so exciting to feel like I could show off my home! We had a great weekend seeing a new part of Tanzania and even more fun returning "home."

I just realized looking at the history, that I haven't talked about my crazy marine experience...or zanzibar but first the marine story! Beers and brats is how it starts...that's right, Oktoberfest! The German Embassy sponsered an Oktoberfest in Dar that a bunch of us went to and it was great fun. Great meat, beer, and a great German band! I don't think my ancestors are from Bavaria, but for the night I pretended. The real craziness started after the evening though. Our cab didn't return to pick us up as planned and so we started hitching for rides and who would pick us up, but the US Marines. There are about 6 marines in dar who guard the embassy and they had also been at Oktoberfest. They picked us up in their brand new landroover and said they'd give us a ride, but first we had to go to the Marine House. We reluctantly agreed and as soon as the car door shut, the tires started squealing. We were flying around Dar...130 km/hr which is almost 80mph I think! It was bad. The worst part was the marines in the car were being absolute jerks to the Tanzania driver, talking down to him and saying things like "that's an order not a suggestion" and "you can go faster than that!" I realized then why so many people hate Americans! I would too if this is what I saw of America. Well, we arrived at the Marine house and it really should have been called the marine mansion. There was a pool, and pool table, two bars, a library, two computer, and beautiful wood furniture...all for 6 guys who seemed to care more about having enough shot glasses than experiencing any part of tanzania. Well, they said everyone who visited had to take an "independance shot" and they continued drinking the whole time we were there, before they left for the bar. It was kind of sad actually to talk to them and hear how much they hated living here and realizing they just hang out with each other and drink almost every night. Well, we left the peninsula where they lived and made it back to the university in 9 minutes...usually it's a 45 min trip! I was very excited to get out of the car in one piece!!

Long drops and music, the fun of today. That's right, I had my first long drop choo experience. A choo is the swahili word for toliet, and thus far I have avoided the dreaded "long drop" toliets. Now, it's important to note there are many types of long drops, the extremes being the hole in the ground with small cement blocks for your feet such as the bathrooms found at the shamba and the higher class long drop flushers that have the whole and a little porcelin area increasing the target. Well, the one near daruso is higher class, but that didn't stop me from feeling a bit awkward as i squatted down and did my best to keep my pants clean. I was walking by DARUSO after my 7am Swahili class and just had to go to the bathroom! Fortunately, I had my trusty toliet paper in my backpack and was able to relieve myself and keep the floor and my pants clean. I felt like an accomplished long dropper.

Tonight I had a great time at my music class. I'm in a fine and performing arts class that's basically like choir. They laughed so hard because we were singing the national anthem and one of the words started with an imploded "mu" sound. I couldn't do it for the life of me. It was such a foreign sound and not a verb sound I've ever made. I faked my way through it and had a great time singing the national anthem and "Tanzania Nakupenda," the Tanzanian version of "America the beautiful." I even taped it on a voice dictator so when I get home I'll be able to play for everyone the shrilling, bright sound of passionately untrained Tanzanian singers. It's quite an experience.

Life in Tanzania is great of late. We've been having a lot of fun and some surprises! On Thursday I was floored when Anna, Erin, Bre, Gerard, and company surprised Lindsey and I with a birthday party! My half birthday was in September and hers was October and so they figured that her being 20 and 1/2 and me being 21 and 1/2 they could have a 21st birthday celebration! I was so unexpected and fun! They had cake, which is about the hardest thing to find in Tanzania and wine, and Lindsey and I both received tapes of our favorite Tanzanian music, mine being "Hakuna Muguu kama wewe" (There is no God like you). On top of that, Anna saw a Chelsea football jersey that had the logo "Fly Emirates" on the front and in honor of my flight to England on Emirates Airlines she bought it for me! We had a great time chatting and spending time with our great LCCT group!

The fun continued Friday when I went out to eat planning to meet our South African friend Des. Unfortunately one of the kids in her youth group injured himself so she had to nurse him back to health, so I was sitting at Addis in Dar, a great Ethiopian restaurant by myself just listening to English-Swahili-and...Norwegian?! I couldn't believe it! I thought I heard Norwegian. I finished my great meal and honey wine and walked over to these two girls and asked if they were from Norway. They were actually from Sweden (close enough that I could understand some of their words) and so I sat with them and had a great chat, not to mention a ride halfway home...it's all about hitchhiking here in Tanzania.

Saturday was crazy! At first I went to DARUSO, the local bar type place on campus to watch the Arsenal-Chelsea football match (football being soccer of course.) I was blown away! There were about 300 Tanzanians squeezed around one TV, all sitting in the cheap plastic coca-cola chairs and yelling at every move or "tsking" at bad plays. When one team would score the place erupted with plastic chairs and tables being flung airborn. It was great fun...but one odd part was not a single woman! It was a testostorne filled room and the only reason I could walk to find a chair was because a ray of sunlight keep a small space open. Monkeys were jumping off the roof on to nearby trees and the whole scene was quite a memory. After the game, I worked on a project with a Tanzania friend named Ally and went to the opening party to celebrate the formation of an Anti-AIDS club on campus. There were the hottest Tanzania groups, like the Unique Sisters, and guess who I would run into at the concert, but the Swedish girl I met the night before! It is a small world even in Dar. A group of us went out dancing after the Anti-AIDS club concert and one of the Swedish girl's friends knew some great salsa moves so I tried to pick those up. We stretched our limited amount of money just far enough to get us home.

Sunday was of course church and IDOLS! Yes, South Africa has a version of American Idol and we had to watch the last one...I was thinking how much Adam St. John would have loved it! There were two girls left and both were incredible, but the worse singer, (but white one) of the two one...personally I think it reflects racial tensions in S. Africa but the others tried to assure me it was because her voice was more pop where as the other girls was more gospel.

This week has been quiet with classes running and actually a day of clouds and rain! It was heavenly. We all put on our pants and felt like we were at home. now though it is back to its hot self. I'm having a great time though because i've really rediscovered the enjoyment of reading...analyzing the bible, reading novels and playing guitar. It will be quite a change to go back to Luther and have to work again! Also, Anna and I have started up quite a chess rivalry. We bring the pieces that anna bought and the paper board we made (because we were too cheap at the time to buy a real board) with us everywhere we go. Hopefully I'll be able to match up with the Bergans when I come home!

Today I'm going to try to throw the disc a little bit and go to a choir rehearsal...otherwise, another chill day in Africa!

We just got a few e-mails from Bill with old pictures. It seems so long ago that we were in the Arusha area, as my white skin, clean looking clothes, and fresh hair cut hair can attest to. Check out the pictures taken at the start of our journey almost 3 months ago! We're half way done now.A look back...

While many of you celebrated Native American Day this week, we also had a holiday here! Nyerere's Death Day. that sounds morbid, but it was a holiday yesterday on Tuesday to commenerate the day that Tanzania's first president Julius Nyerere died. We celebrated by going to our South African friends' house Monday night and cooking up a feast. It was a big deal because we haven't had access to a kitchen since we arrived! We all cooked something and I did milk shakes which were horrible b/c the milk in Tanzania so sour and lumpy. Not so good. But Anna made a great chicken cassarole and jello so I felt like I was at home at a church potluck. Gerard being
from right outside New York made a posh, fancy pasta called pasta a la vodka or something like that. It was penne pasta with
fresh tomato sauce cooked in vodka. It was very tasty! We also had a
huge salad and garlic bread. yum! Anna and I spent the night and we
watched three movies and played chess until 3:30am. Then we slept in and
spent the rest of tuesday at the beach catching up on sleep and sun.
Also, I cut my hair! It's so short. I think the shortest it's ever been.
I had to cut it real short because of all the wax in my hair from the
dreads. Anna affectionately called in the Holocaust survivor look. I
prefer the swimmer's look. Anyways, it is so blonde when I cut it short.
I hope it grows back! Today only two classes.

The big news in town is that a movie theatre is opening today! The first in Dar. Supposedly it
is going to get all the latest movies so we are hoping that we will be
able to see the long await Lord of the Rings and Matrix movies. The best
part is it is only a 15 minute dala ride away. I'm so excited, I've been missing movies so much here!

The other news is that the daladala bus service, (ie- cramming as many people as you can in a fast movie minibus that ignores traffic laws), is going to be replaced
starting in december with an actual city bus service. The minister of
transportation said they hope to only have daladalas on minor roads by
2005. Kind of sad, but probably good for the city considering the big
growth and crowdedness.

That's the latest from Dar. It's getting hotter as the days pass and I think I have a permanent farmer's tan...or should I say shamba tan. Now, I'm off to research on democracy in Zambia. Fun stuff!

Music in Tanzania is crazy. There are four types that are heard constantly. First and most popular is of course the rap/RB, mostly American, but a few Tanzanians trying to be American. This music blasts from the open air dorms from 6am until midnight and I think that I have "In Da Club" by 50 cent permanently engrained in my brain. The second type of music is celion dion. Seriously. Tanzanians have some obsession with love songs and I hear Celion Dion, Michael Bolton (a throw back to my Central days), Mariah Carrey, and people like Rod Stewart constantly. It is quite disturbing actually. It's light radio in Dar. The third type is my favorite: the church choir type music. There is one song we love called "Hakuna Munguu Bwana Wewe" meaning "there is no god like you." this music is what you would think of stereotypically of an African Choir...like the backround of Paul Simon's "Graceland" album. The last type is also very fun: Bongoflava. This is heavy drums and big rhythm and is very popular in clubs and late at night when rap is not playing. It is very Zanzibarian and East Coast tanzania and is great to dance to. So now, as I close, Michael is singing full blast in the computer lab and I just have to smile. That's what love is all about, when a man loves a woman, I said I loved you but I lied. Oh the memories...

I'm the class representative! Funny story. So I was in my Democracy and Elections class yesterday for the first real lecture and the teacher started the class by asking, "What is Democracy?" Of course no one answer and she asked the students if they had a class representative, which is the person in charge of answering when no one else does and the person in charge of talking to the teacher if the class has a problem. The class said, no we don't have one and some one in the back shouted in swahili, "Mzungo pamoja nywele!" Essentially, the white guy with the hair! Everyone yelled in agreement and so I was elected class representative and had to answer the question. Then today, my second day in office, the microphone wouldn't work...actually the teacher and the students didn't know how to use it, so once again I was called to action to fix the problem. It's rough with so much responsibility, but hey, there's only one white guy with the hair.

Leaves and boogers...my latest thoughts in Tanzania. Apparently, leaves also change colors here, although they don't necessarily have a fall. The leaves change during our winter because it gets so hot here! The Tanzanias that were looking at Anna's autumn pictures at Luther couldn't believe that leaves changed colors when it was cold. Very different. Also, another phenomena here that is quite extrodinary is nose picking. People do it, proudly, out in the open. It is not taboo at all and we've decided it's because of all the dust here. You just can't get by without picking your nose. I have noticed since arrival in Dar how my eyes, nose and throat all seem to collect this thin layer of dust and dirt. I not only have dirty nose boogers, but also eye boogers. It is refreshing though to know I can proudly clear myself of this dust at anytime, and anyplace. Now if only I could draw less attention to my hair and my skin color....

We went to the beach this weekend and were severely disappointed! We arrived and settled in to our bungalows only to find a rat! We moved bungalows in hopes of leaving the rat, but after a fun evening sitting out under the stars by a beach fire, the rat returned! No one slept well, but at least we were all up for the sunrise. We were also disappointed because we were supposed to get chipati for breakfast but they were out. Chipati is the Tanzania version of lefsa. It's a fried tortilla type bread that most tanzanians eat plain, but i like to add butter and sugar to make it a bit more norwegian!

We also had a smelly surprised when we returned to campus...no water or electricity! IT has been going on and off for the past week, but it's been off about 24 hours now. And to think of all the problems it caused in the US. It's typical here. Fortunately, I had a 5 gallon "back up jug" of water and I used that to take a much need shower, but I hope we get it back because now I'm out. I put up some pics so everyone can see the water situation. First we collect the water in our big 5 gallon jugs, then I boil with the water boiler, then I filter to get out the chunks, and then I put in my nalgene bladder for storage! The big black tanks are the "simtanks" that are all over Dar. They are supposed to be our back up sourse of water, but people from all over town come and steal our back up supply so there is none for us. electricity just got cut again, fortunately there's a stopper on the computers so they don't crash.... no connection though.

The other pics are of the fisherman out on lake Malawi...this fish with lanterns at night because it attracts the fish. And of course the picture with the computer is me trying to "watch" the twins game. The picture of the dala-dala minibus is at our "favorite" corner in dar where cars go every which way with no rhyme or reason...or light. Finally the pics of the girls are the South African friends we have and I at a jazz concert in Dar. Enjoy! .Where's the Water?

Tonight we're off to a drum/jazz concert at the French Embassy. Should be entertaining! That's all for now. Pray for water

School has begun... sort of. I went to class yesterday for the first time and had one lecture in my Development perspectives course. It was good and big! Probably 200 students. I'm not used to that at Luther. I also found out yesterday that I passed the Swahili test so I am able to take the intermediate class. Lindsey and Anna also passed it and so we'll all be trying to speak a bit more this semester. No roommate yet, but I did receive an early morning call from June Brown which was great to hear. She;s sharing her teaching expertise and giving me some supplies for Halloween so I can teach the kids here about halloween. I start teaching again next week but will be more supportative going once or twice a week instead of everyday. This weekend we're going to the beach to celebrate Meredith's b-day; she's another student from the US, so I'm sure we'll have fun. Today I MAY have my Political Perspective on Development and my population geography class, but no one knows for sure. I'm not sure what my classes actually are yet, but i'll put them up when i know. Pole sana twins, hopefully they'll come back in the dome. Getting one out of two in NY is pretty good. now, off to read and see if i have class!

Well, not much in terms of class here. Everyone is just kind of wandering around waiting for classes to actually start, but they never seem to. We are excited though because tonight we're going to the house of a couple we met at church and they told us they were going to make us Mexican! My favorite. I can't wait. I also had exciting news that my brother in law, Brian, was awarded the best composition in an ACDA competition- a huge award! His piece will be performed in Sioux Falls in March, and who knows, maybe my choir will be able to perform it because we will be there already performing. Fun news in SoDak.

Well, the news about our trip continues...and it gets crazy. We tried to leave Zambia and had some problems. When we entered the country they stamped our passports and asked how long we were going to stay. We were not all together at the time so Bre and I said two weeks to be on the safe side, but Anna and Lindsey said one week. Well, we had been there 8 days because of the slow buses and the border guard said we had to pay money to get out of the country. Bre kind of took over and was arguing with him and bartering and finally we gave him 10,000 Tsh, about 10 dollars, to give us the exit stamp. The funny part though is that he probably won't be able to use it because the schilling is a closed currency which means bureaus and banks cannot exchange for it outside of Tanzania. We were happy to leave Zambia though and enter Malawi, where more adventures law ahead.

We took a bus to Lilongwe where we quickly found the bus going to Mzuzu, near Nkhata Bay, our destination. Unfortunately, the bus to Mzuzu would not leave until it was full...and we sat, and sat...and sat. It was joto sana (very hot) and despite the bus being quite crowded, it was not all the way full so we just sat there frying, as our anger boiled with the temperature. After 2 and a half hours, and seller was leaning in the windown, and reached into my shirt pocket and grabbed 100 Malawian Kwacha. I freaked out. I swung my arm around to try to grab him, but I hit the window which slid back, picking the lady's arm behind me. I was mad I was pickpocketed! For the first time in my life, I think I actually wanted to deck someone. I just wanted to chase after him but I was pinned in the bus, roasting. We finally left after about 3 and a half hours and had a six hour bus ride in a minibus carrying roughly 30 people.

Because of the long wait we arrived in Mzuzu at dark and the buses to our destination, Nkhata Bay where no longer running. We got a cab and finally confinced him to accept US dollars because we didn't have enough Kwacha...but it was the ride from hell. We realized about half way there that this guy didn't have any breaks. He was using his parking break to stop and was going about 30 mph the whole way. As we finally reached Nkhata Bay, he didn't know where to go and was trying to turn around when his parking break failed and we backed right into a cement pillar. His car was dented in and at the same moment as he was in the middle of the intersection trying to start his car with the help of 10 people pushing, the Malawian police drove up, swerving at the last minute to avoid us. Everyone told him to just drive away and he floored it, but soon told us he couldn't take us to the Backpacker's Lodge because he couldn't make it up the hill. We just got out and walked about 2km with the help of two guys (one of them named Smart!) who walked us to the Lodge. It felt great to get there and when we arrived there was a party going on with a circus type guy doing tricks. We sat down and enjoyed and actually ran into a Swede and Norwegian we had met a week before in Zambia. I chatted a bit with them in Norwegian and then headed to bed.

We woke up the next morning to finally see our surroundings in the day light and they were amazing. We were right on Lake Malawi which is huge and looks like an ocean. The water was clear with neon blue fish swimming around and the place we were staying: heavenly. Amazing food, including pancakes in the morning, and hammocks and chairs everywhere for reading and napping. The next 3 days or so were pretty much lazy. Reading, sleeping, and playing chess with Anna. Even at night we could look out on the lake and see the fishermen who put lanterns in their boats to attract the fish...it looked like stars on the water.

Bre and I did try to change money in Mzuzu unsuccessfully. Traveller's Checks should be called stay at home checks because they don't take them anywhere! We had lots of fun at Nkhata Bay and met a crazy group of South Africans who were on holiday in Malawi. These stereotypical cocky, buff, south africans definitely made our time at the lodge funny. The last day in Nkhata Bay was also entertaining because I decided to get my hair dredded! It was the most painful thing I think I've ever done. One hour of constant pulling, knotting, and applying hot wax. What do you think? You'll have to check out the picture! Malawi Pictures

Bre, Lindsey, and I were getting excited to come back so we packed up the next day and went as far as Mbeya in one day. We had more problems at the border because they didn't want to let Bre in because she didn't have her residency permit stamped in her passport, but once again her diplomatic skills got us in, this time without money. I rode all the way to Mbeya next to a chicken too! Yeah, just on the bus, the lady next to me had her chicken wrapped up like a baby, and it slept like a baby. Occasionally given a gobble when we would hit a bump...just a regular sight in TZ. Mbeya was not the best. A guy attempted to pickpocket me but Lindsey and Bre were there to give the guy and shove and get him out of my pockets...needless to say we were ready the next morning at 5:30am to leave, although Lindsey got sick before the trip making us wish we could teleport back. I got off before the girls in Morogoro, a town about 2 hours from Dar, and stayed with a friend named Ayubuh who I met at the University. I had a great time at his house meeting his family and making sandwiches for them! They didn't know what sandwiches were so I made they a wide variety with goods from the market. I think they liked PB and J best. Then I traveled back to Dar and arrived Saturday afternoon about 4pm. It felt great to see the familiar Dala Dala's and to know what the price should be for everything. Back to Tanzania Pictures

Well, that's the travel adventures...kind of long winded, but entertaining. It's hard to describe everything but hopefully the combination of words and pictures will help. Enjoy the pics and the beginning of October tomorrow! Cheers!

We're back! We survived our journey to Victoria Falls and Malawi, and despite hours of travel, bribing border guards, and pickpocketing, we had a great time.

The trip started on the Tazara train: a very slow passenger train that took us from Dar all the way to Kapiri Moshi, Zambia. Bre, Anna, Lindsey and I from our program and Gerard, Stacey, and Meredith (Americans on a different program) also joined us. Along the way we were able to see the changing Tanzanian landscape from dry grassland to hilly green areas in the west. We had quite an experience with Tse-Tse flies. These flies have a vicious bite and a small number carry african sleeping sickness: a serious illness that makes you, well, sleep forever as the train attendant informed us when we asked what the insect was. Bre got one in her skirt and was bit numerous times while Lindsey and I both had a few random bites. We watched for symptoms though and all of us are still awake. You can check out the pics of our train travels and our first class apartment that we were in for about 40 hours, including two nights. We became quite attached to our vinyl beds I think! Tazara Train Pics

After our arrival in Kapiri Moshi we started our bus adventures. We took a small mini-bus about 2 hours to the capital of Zambia, Lusaka where we spent the night at a great backpacker's hostel called Chachacha's. When we arrived there though, they were full so we stayed in tents on their lawn. Worth both dollars we paid I'd say! We were rejuvenated with their great food and the next morning at 6am took a 10 hour bus to Livingstone, Zambia which is next to Victoria Falls.

We had a great time in Livingstone. We stayed at another cheap, fun backpacker's place called Fawlty Towers. We had so much fun at these places because you stay in bunk beds in a room with people from all over the world. We met a cool Australia, a Dutchman, and a group of British kayakers. It was so fun sharing travel stories, tips, and places to go with people who like us, loved to travel! We visited the Falls which were incredible. On the way, we had to wait about 20 minutes while elephants crossed the road! Then we arrived at the falls and there was spray everywhere, definitely living up to the local name that translates to "the water that smokes" or something like that. It was very humbling to see this amazing site and to think that we were in Africa, a weird realization of the obvious. It was also hilarious because at the same time, there was the world's strongest man competition in Zambia, so all these "world's strongest men" were at the falls. The strongest men looking at the strongest waterfall...an ironic site for sure. You can check out the pics and see how amazing the falls, they do little to justify the beautiful, but can say what I cannot describe: God's awesome creation. Victoria Falls

Our best adventure in Livingstone was whitewater rafting. We left our place at 8am, ate a good African breakfast of beans, bread, and tea and then headed to the water. The river was the Zambezi and is rated 5 out of 6, with 6 being impassable, so this was a serious river to raft! In fact, on the first rapid, we couldn't get over it and finally we paddled hard and our raft hit the rock and flipped! I was flung from the raft into the water and was probably under for about 5 secs which felt like a life time. I seriously thought I was good. I was panting when I finally found the surface and thought, 22 more of these! Well, I recovered and had a good time. We had a great guide who wasn't afraid to hit the rapids full speed. We all fell out 4 times our of 23 and our arms, lungs, and hearts were quite tired when we finally reached the end. We had a great time, saw great scenary, and even stopped in Zimbabwe for lunch (on the other side of the river). After living through whitewater rafting, we took a safer adventure the next day on a bike tour. It was amazing. A local guy who called himself the "local cowboy" because of his specially made straw cowboy hat biked us around the Zambezi. Along the way we had to stop because elephants were once again in our path. we also saw giraffees, crocodilles, and huge spiders before heading to the best part of the trip, a local village. He took us to a village where he had friends and we came in the midst of a traditional dance/song/game where someone dressed as a ghost type person chases kids and collects money that is then given to someone in the village. The only way the kids can keep him away is to sing to make him dance. We saw this awesome site as a oddly dressed character grooved to about 20 Zambian kids singing at the top of their lungs. Then, we went to a school in the town that the "local cowboy" supports with a portion of the money he makes. The school is for vulnerable children and orphans and it was very humbling. There was one lady essentially volunteering her time to teach maybe 60-80 kids in a room the size of a dorm room. They sang a bunch of songs for us like "One, two three four five, once I caught a fish alive," "If you're happy and you know it," and other songs. It was very emotional to see all these kids: on one hand b/c they had such a hard life, but on the other hand because they were having the opportunity to get an education. It definitely put a human face to the work I did this summer researching HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. That was them. Zambia Pics

The rest of our time in Zambia was spent relaxing at Fawlty Towers where good food and company surrounded us. We stayed I think 4 nights before heading back to Lusaka on bus. From Lusaka we caught another 6am bus to Chipata, Zambia which is close to the border of Malawi and Zambia. We had to stay there and had fun trying to save money by having all four of us (Lindsey, Anna, Bre, and I) in a double. Very tight, but we were only there for maybe 12 hours anyways.

The story will have to continue tomorrow as I am out of time, but halfway through the journey...fun huh?! It is great to be back in Dar though and feel a little bit like we're home. We are supposed to start class tomorrow, but it is really random...we'll see if we actually find classes to attend, most people are not even here yet! It's Africa time I guess. Go Twins! Hope all are well, hope to hear from you all soon!

Alright, back in the lab with a little time. If you haven't read the blog from Mon sept 8th read that first b/c i'm going to try to finish the story now....

so we were walking down the beach looking for another trail and we finally found what we thought was one, but it just took us across the island to another secluded beach. We then were very intelligent and though for sure the main beach was just around the corner, so we thought we'd just follow the beach back. Soon however, the sand again turned to coral and so we walked through the shallow water, but the water got deeper and deeper. Soon we were wading with water up to my shoulders with hard, sharp coral on our right and the ocean surf hitting us from the left. we were walking on seaweed coated coral and were trying to balance our bags on our heads while maintain our balance. it was a difficult task. The wade was a long one...maybe a mile or two, but it was great b/c we saw all these awesome caves everywhere with crabs lining the walls. I felt like a pirate or a kid from the Lord of the Flies. We continued going on, always hopeful that our destination was just around the corner. Finally, after 45 min it was around the corner and we made it back with only a few cuts and bruises (and very wet shoes!) It was fun adventure around Bongoyo Island, but one that as Mike described, was a case of the dumb things smart people do.

Well, today I found a cheap restaurant in town and had fun visiting the immigration office in Dar to get my passport stamped for residency. It was crazy, packed full of people with passports just in piles behind the desks. I thought for sure I would lose my passport and be in Tanzanian indefinitely, but they did manage to stamp it and I escaped with passport in hand. Tomorrow we have a meal at our Swahili professor's house and on Friday we head out to Zambia to see Victoria Falls. We'll board the train Friday afternoon at 3:50pm and arrive in Zambia early morning Sunday. After a few bus rides we'll end up at the Falls and probably stay there a week or so before slowly heading back via bus through Malawi. It should be another adventure. then classes start and I guess I'll have to go back to the reality of being a student, but until then I'll just be working on my swahili and enjoying the laid back, fun Tanzanian culture. That's all for now folks. I hope everyone is doing well starting school and activities. Thank you for your e-mails and letters! I will try to respond to them as soon as I can. Tutoanana.

Oh yeah, and I figured out how to do links thanks to anna. You should be able to click on the blue title now and go straight to the pics. enjoy.