Wrapping it Up...Kigamboni to Stone Town

So we originally were going to "Paradise" this run-down little two-bit joint complete with brownish water, tents and millipedes. We did that for a night and decided that free-travel or no, lazy time on the beach or no, sometimes it's better to be proactive. Thus, Camille, Jessie, Aura, David and some other investigatory types walked a total of 50 yards to the left and found what we were looking for. This was how camping on the beach was meant to be. We deserted our "paradise" campsite and shifted oh so slightly and settled down to this awesome pad of thick canvas tents with mattresses, porches and cheap comfy tables with lights, scads of lounge chairs, a smattering of hammocks and great views. So Kigamboni went by with a lazy sort of sense of time, napping through the day, reading, taking walks and deciding what to eat were the major events of the day. For the boys (and the honorary boy: Aura) things such as soccer and crabbing took place to shake things up a bit. Along similar lines, sometimes adventure found those who weren't looking for it. I (Rachel) had a very very memorable experience with a certain bastardly and recalcitrant sea urchin we named Freddie. So sit down for a bit...because the story goes like this: While I was out swimming that day a dip after my late breakfast I got past the break and found a clearing of smooth sand imbetween the large rocks and chose to amble about there. Unfortunately it was occupied by this guy who'd chosen the spot for the same reason. He greeted me asked if I was alone or with a group...said I was with a big group and then this happend.
"Ah, big group. Okay okay. You are friend?"
"Am I your friend?"
"No"
"Do I have friends? Yes I have lots of friends."
"No, are you..." he struggled to find the word..."friendly?"
"No, I'm not friendly" very wary since being proferred by two guys in Arusha about staying in their hotels for free and one giving me the handshake for wanted sex.
"So me and you you think ni ku penda?" Which I knew penda was like or love as a noun but as a verb was sex. So I thought this smooth stretch of sand wasn't worth it and struggling to swim back and find another place (it was lowtide and the current was strong) I was jostled by the water and my foot and a large black spikey sea urchin came in contact. So just from grazing it I promptly received around fifteen barbs around the nail on my right big toe and two barbs on my right heel. I curiously lifted my toe out of the water not quite what to make sure of the black spikes coming out of my body. I slowly made my way up to the tent. (We're really close we hear the waves as we sleep) and caught the attention of my fellow mates and they asked how I was I said I needed tweasers and showed them. I put my foot up and Camille started attempting to take them out. They would crumble at every attempt we made to carefully pull them out. A nurse came by to offer her help. She took a needle and dug through my toe after pouring 96% alcohol on the barbs and tried to pry them out. After a while we decided to try the local cure...a mix of papaya milk and salt and lemon which took the sting out of the poison and supposedly made the skin soft and easy to dig the barbs out of. I grasped Camilles hand on my left and Matt's hand on my right. Some people had to step in and change hands because I hurt their hands too much from squeezing so tight. Pretty much you put the milk salt lemon mixture on it with alcohol inbetween (the salt and lemon HURT) and let it seep in. After 30 minutes a guy in a white shirt took his acacia thorns and dug around the base of the barb trying and squeezing it out with his thumbs. The acacia thorn was as sharp as a knife and really hurt my poisoned highly innervated toe. I'm not that ashamed to say that I hyperventilated from the pain. I was actually really successful at keeping my foot still but at one point digging out a barb near the base of my toenail and strained in the back of my plastic chair so much to try and escape the pain that the chair's thin plastic back broke in half. We got a new chair and began again. I was stung at around 11:30 and didn't have permission to leave until 2:30 so it was this three hour long ordeal. Finally a red shirted guy said that it's too fragile, we've gotten on tiny pieces a tenth of the size of a grain of rice out; and he suggested to create a hole at the top of each barb (when it happened to him) nicked the top poured alcohol and disinfectant to kill the barbs and then put antibiotic cream on and keep in wrapped so that's what we did, wrapped it up drew a happy face on the bandage and named him George. Kevin thought that I should get a sea urchin tattoo on my toe in the future to commemorize the event. Early on people would ask to tell stories and sing songs and asked what my favorite band was...so it was that I sobbingly led a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody with everyone and bantered with David quipping Monty Python lines. But it's fine now and that tattoo idea is very appealing. It's been fine since then, left alone in it's bandage with some cleaning we moved on up to Zanzibar for more rest and relaxation by the beach. Kendwa Rocks is this sprawling resort with affordable prices for the dorm (if not quite the food) and the waters were kind and beautiful and gentle which I for one appreciated. Everybody spent there 4 days/ 5 nights lounging in the sun and waiting for their next meal. We went on a spice tour which consisted of walking around and smelling plants trying to guess what they were. We ate fresh fruit, drank tea, and wore hats made out of banana leaves. Then we got a tour of stone town where we saw the slave market, the anglican church, and a very old fort. Then we moved into the clove hotel, our last residence as a group. We started our scuba certification courses. Rachel, Kevin, Camille, Aura, Matt, Kate, Lihi, and Clairen took the open water course. And Curry, David, Jessie, and Andrea took their advanced open water course. While Zik did his own thing. The advanced divers went on 5 dives: Peak Performance Buoyancy(learning to be graceful underwater), Navigation (finding your way around underwater), a deep dive(self-explanatory), a wreck dive, and a night dive. Open water people learned basic skills and focused on breathing, swimming, and just not freaking out. The days went by very fast and now we are 2 days from coming home. Last night we went out to dinner and had our last meeting about re-entry and reverse culture shock. Everybody has mixed feelings about going home and is sad to leave behind the family that we've created here in East Africa. Tonight is our last night and Zik and Curry have set up a "surprise" for us. I think we're all in a state of suspended disbelief; it's incredible to think that we won't see each other next week. David can't relate his larium dreams, Matt won't be urging us on to play soccer, Kevin and Camille won't be bantering, and the warm African sun will disappear and be replaced with the throes of winter (Clairen especially will be facing this horrible switch...Alaska being Alaska and all that). It's odd to think about, but I think we all hope to keep in touch, time and distance notwithstanding. And even if the practicalities of day to day life suck us all into our individual routines we're pretty confidant (Jessie and Rachel) that we'll all look back on our funky, crazy blend of a family and it's comforting to realize that no one can take away the experiences and memories we've already shared. Love you all and we're looking forward to seeing you soon and telling the rest of the stories that don't fit on the blog.
Jessie and Rachel

Yoshi

So we arrived in Moshi last Friday, which was pretty exciting. We took a bus and it was only like an hour from Arusha, which was pretty nice. We got a spectacular view of Mt. Kilimanjaro on the way. We settled into Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hotel, which has ceiling fans that the man room thoroughly enjoyed (Don't ask why). David also celebrated our arrival by shaving his "facial hair." Everyone was very excited. The next day (Aura's 19th birthday!) we took a trip over to Amani Children's Home, where we were going to be volunteering for the next week. We met Joe... we're not exactly sure what his job is, but something along the lines of volunteer coordinator/supervisor/communications director.. well anyways he showed us around and introduced us to the staff and the many children. He also informed us that we would be playing a "friendly" football (soccer) game against the Amani children (mzungu vs mwafrica) on monday. For Aura's birthday celebration, the event planners (Kate and Lihi) planned a dinner to indotalian (an indian and italian restaurant combined!). The food was delicious and Aura looked oh so pretty with her birthday crown and earings. After dinner we surprised her with a chocolate cake, which did not last too long, as andrea, aka the chocolate queen, was strategically sitting next to her.
Sunday was a free day to walk around town and experience firsthand the ferocity of the street sellers. Their relentless effort combined with our desperate need led to a massive economic boost for the moshi community (especially omar and the bag ladies). We also had to accomplish a quick scavenger hunt where we learned all about Moshi. We learned that Mt. Kilimanjaro is 5,895 meters tall, being the tallest mountain in Africa, and the only place where there is snow all year long in Africa. We also learned that apparently Moshi is a city not a dinosaur. We were astonished, but we quickly recovered and enjoyed the day.
Monday was the big game, which we lost spectacularly 10-8. Despite the loss, the game was tons of fun and we were all thoroughly exhausted even though the children were unfazed.
Tuesday-Friday were spent at Amani in either the morning or afternoon playing with kids, teaching english, cooking, and helping in the art room with Libby, Joe's wife. Each day we were there we got to have one meal with them (lunch or dinner) using only our hands, and it wasn't even easy finger food, it was like rice and beans! It was an experience though...
We got to bond with the children daily, practice our swahili, and experience their limitless energy. Saturday (today!) we were given another free day to get ready for free travel. We were all sad to say goodbye to the kids (we're pretty sure Kate kept one) but felt our time was greatly appreciated. It was pretty stressful planning for free travel, but everything looks great now. We have chosen to go to Kigamboni first, which is on the coast of Tanzania and a part of Dar Es Salaam. We are taking an 8 hour fun filled, action packed, exotic adventure on a bus at 7 in the morning tomorrow, but we will still be able to experience the beach when we get there. We will be camping on the beach and enjoying the ocean. The girls have decided to finally shave for this big event, hence the purchase of the chainsaw. The leg hair will be greatly missed, but also saved and mailed home. Expect a large package! (Clear some room in your garage).
On friday we are leaving Kigamboni and swimming to zanzibar, we all bought shark repellant with a discount considering the large purchase. We will arrive in Stone Town but we have chosen to stay in the north in Kendwa, which is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Zanzibar. (it's also very manly). We hope to all survive and have lots of fun. When free travel is over we will be heading back down to Stone town for SCUBA DIVING!
Moshi was great, we bought most of the town.
Matt and Lihi signing out! Kwaherini!

last day bangata/pete o'neal

soo before we start talking about UAACC(united African alliance community centre), the place we are staying at right now we have a couple of things to add to Camilles and Auras last post,regarding last night and day at Bangata.
we could start describing the last 48 hours at the village as pretty "eventful". We wake up the morning of the 4th, with Curry and Zik having to tell just a minor incident that took place the night before..Apparently, at around 12pm at night, Zik found himself cooking some chilly(which by the way was amazing) when suddenly, he hears two huge bangs at the door and 4 huge black men storm into their house armed with full sized machetes and hammers. Zik, caught with a cooking knife and a mop in hand, Curry still deep asleep, safe and sound in her room(there are too many details, we cant really write about) to make the story short, Zik successfully pulled one of the machetes out of the aggressors hand and scared them off, unfortunately, men made off with his ipod, speakers and phone whilst throwing stones at Zik as they left (just to make sure he wasn't gonna hunt them down). no harm done, everyones safe and sound and this just added a little of excitement to our home stays experience..the episode definitely left no room for doubt that we are in very competent hands..
Next morning, after having heard the story, we prepared our good bye meal for our host families. Rice got over cooked and looked like Ugali(a white paste made out of corn), but it still tasted deeeelicous! we had chapati,tomatoes with olive oil and salt, salads, beans and Ziks hot chilly which had gone through too much by the time it was served..lunch was a great success, Matt and Andrea even delivered two short thank you speeches in Kiswahili form which the parents all had a good laugh out of, but still appreciated it very much!
At the moment, as said above, we are staying a the UAACC, the UAACC is a program run by Pete Oneal. Pete was the founder of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panthers. He led the movement against prejudice and policed the police, but not only that he was a large part of the community by teaching kids and helping the community. He has now extended what he was doing in Kansas City to Arusha, Tanzania. The reason why Pete has come to Africa was because he was brought up on flimsy charges of carrying a shotgun across state lines and faced up to 3 years and prison and instead of being brought up on false charges that would keep him from helping and protecting his community, so he went to Africa with his wife when he was 30 and his wife was 19 and they have been here ever since. Now he runs the UAACC and provides clean water for the surrounding area and classes for the local children. There is also a orphanage were he provides school and housing for young kids without the means to go to school or even have a proper home. he also runs a hostel for kids like us and it is one of his primary sources of income. He is an amazing man that does nothing but try to help us for example on last Thursday we were invited by Mzee (which is a sign of respect in Swahili and means, "old man") Pete to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Now when we got to UAACC we were not expecting anything special alot of the usual, rice and beans and such, but just lots of it, but to our amazement and jubilation there was a REAL turkey and stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes and everything it was truly amazing and so good and apparently he prepared everything himself, and it was delicious.

ssooooo well be updating as soon as were in Moshi and know what were doing..in a while crocodile.Kwaherini, Andy and Kevin

Safari Adventures

Hey guys its Camille and Aura and we have some great stuff to tell you about. The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater were amazing. We started heading to The Serengeti from Mwanza it was a long jeep ride but we got to the front gate and ate lunch. During lunch monkeys came so close to us that we could almost touch them we got loads of pictures and it made everyone ready to see African Wildlife. As we rolled into the Serengeti every ones eyes were peeled ready to see a lion. Wildebeest were there to give us a warm welcome. There were Millions of Wildebeest and Thompson Gazelles and many other animals. When we saw our first lion it was amazing. So we rolled on to our camp site and ate a great meal and went to sleep early because we were eager to see an african sunrise apart from the city. It was well worth waking up at 5:30 in the morning because as the sun was rolling high Giraffs were a hundred yards away walking past our camp hinting that tday was going to be a great day. We started by a great breakfast and packed our daypacks and embarked on our Safari. We saw tons more Wildabeest and then a massive elephants. Then as lunch was creeping near David needed to use the bathroom and walked to a tree getting out of our vehicle and Omar our guide sternly told him to get back to the car because lions were sleeping under the very tree that he was going to pee behind.
Then we finished up at the Seringeti and a long dusty ride took us to the beautiful Ngorogoro crater. We stopped on the way to explore a village of Massai warriors and learned much of their culture. Then we made camp on the summit of one of the many moutains that surrounds the crater. After camp we drove into the crater. Our vehicle's breaks gave way and we almost plumited to our death but yet again Omar and his experiance saved us again. We waited until nightfall and went back to the camp where we found kevin aura and david on their sides sick. so we put them all in the sick tent and thus started the sick tent trek. others to join were camille and andrea, andrea getting the hard end of the stick when she got a temperature of 104.
The last day of the trek we ended up in a beautiful campsite right outside of lake natron. a lake we have now dubbed the endless lake of flamingo shit... where was the water? then tanzanature tours took us to arusha where we stayed two nights at backpackers hotel, exploring the city. aura camille matt jessie and david went to go visit omar and omari's homes, two of the guides. it was a lot of fun and prepared us for the stay in bengata.after our pretty uneventfull stay in arusha we all made our way to our host families in bengata. bengata is a small town outside of arusha that is right below mount meru and is what seems to be the birthplace of dust. kate has proved the persistence of this dust by wearing socks and closed toed shoes and still finding the pesy little buggers in her toes. we cant write from everyones point of view but it seems that the families are kind, welcoming, and fun. i know that i will deffinatly miss my family when i leave. the only downfall to being in homestays is that we miss the group life. although we do see each other at our daily swahili classes we find ourselves missing each other a lot. mama frieda and all of the tomito household have been very kind, making us lunch and allowing us to use their facilities for classes and are spectacular halloween party.
oh yes we had a halloween party. kate was a super hero. jessie a butterfly. david hucklberry finn... we all knew what he really was.... kevin was matt. matt was kevin. camille was a fairy. lihi was an earth child. andrea was a caterpillar. aura was trinity.. orignially she was an italian boy but when she put on matt's sunglasses the resemblance was so bizarre that we all decided she had to be trinity. thanks to camille's moms care package halloween was a blast. also thanks to lihi's majestic bats and jessie's doodling abilities..
our project in bengata was to teach form four children. david and lihi taught english. jessie rachel and clairen are teaching geography. andrea and i did sex ed. matt and kate did math. aura and kevin did history. it was a struggle but there were many good moments like when students screamed "condoms" and when a student took matt to the side and asked him for help. a few of the students had trouble teaching due to constipation issues leading to one particular person having to get it digitally removed.
tommorow we are going to meet pete o'neil a former black panther who is now exiled in tanzania.

Resting up in Kampala..

Hello! David and Clairen are here this time, writing about our fun and relaxing weekend in Kampala before heading to Tanzania! We spent our last few days in Uganda tucked away in our now very familiar Backpackers Hostel. It was definitely very nice to have down time to sleep, read, and mentally prepare ourselves for the next leg of our amazing journey. Our days were mostly filled with downtown excursions and long reading sessions on the balcony of the hostel. But evenings..well that is another story. Somehow, Zik and Curry pulled some magic on us and presented us with tickets to an very big Jazz Festival! We all packed into a taxi and headed out at about 7 pm. The event took place at a very nice resort on the other side of the city, so the drive was not exactly short...but eventually we arrived with huge smiles on our faces, ready to rock out to some absolutely africatastic music. The whole evening we sat in a grass field and enjoyed numerous bands. The music wasn't what what we would call "jazz". But it was definitely filled with soul and passion. Between the traditional instruments and rich voice and the star covered sky, the night was most enjoyable. It wasn't until about 1:30 am that we got back to the hostel. The whole ordeal was so much fun and we are so lucky that Zik and Curry have contacts in Kampala who were willing to hook us up with tickets to a great event! Then for the energetic party animals AKA David, Aura, Matt, Jessie, and Camille went to a club downtown and danced till 4:00 am. Everyone had a blast especially David who break danced like Usher. Then we woke up at 10:00 am for more relaxation then headed to another Zik and Curry hookup event A soccer game between Uganda and Benin. The crowd was amazing and Uganda won 2-1. It was a great experience for all of us. Well that it for now. Camille and Aura will update you on Tanzania and the amazing Safari! Goodbye Y'all until next time.

Soft Power Education....

Hey all. Rachel and Jessie here to tell you all about our SECOND week in Jinja. We worked for a NGO based in Britain called (we told you earlier!) Soft Power Education which concentrates in "beautifying" educational facilities and providing extra curricular activites not often available in the Ugandan public education system. As the debriefer/coordinator, Shaz, that led us through it called it...they're brilliant. We were based in a small Muslim school called Siidiq and we got to do loads and loads of painting. Because the roads were bad during this particularly rainy rainy season...we were set up in one of the classrooms at the school. All of us (nearly) were sleeping shoulder to shoulder on small but respectably comfortable foam mats and had mosquito nets given to us to string across the room in a rather creative fashion. (Kudos Camille). So the living situation was probably the most "basic" we've seen yet but it was pretty cozy and we all got closer...literally. The most challenging part of these new "roughing it" accomodations was the utter and complete total lack of showers. Nothing. Nada. It was good that we were all in it together though...lack of showers and suffering and eventually mastering the pit latrines. Go us! (And by us we mean the girls....it's much more impressive for us). On the flip side...sparse environment aside...we did have the total and lovely luxury of having a personal cook asigned to us to provide three meals a day for our entire group, so that we could concentrate on painting instead of cooking. Which is a good thing...because even if we did try to cook for ourselves it wouldn't come close to coming to the savory culinary masterpieces and Peter (god bless him) unfailingly delivered three times a day. He was an awesome guy all around and we all enjoyed his company (as Peter himself would say...FACT). So our days were usually pretty busy... we had breakfast at 8am and would work til lunch around 1-ish and then we would break up into two groups and learn some basic Swahili. It was really awesome. Roy aka Mwacigwa was an excellent teacher. Knowledgable, good humoured and excited. After the day was done around 6 we would have a couple of hours of downtime in the evening. All in all we managed to get a lot done, considering that the paint required multiple coats and we were all proud to look back upon our work before we left. Good stint. Peace! Jessie and Rachel

First week in Jinja!

Hello everyone Kate and Lihi here... The past week has been full of adventure, hard work, and mzungus. Early sunday morning we left Kampala and traveled to Jinja by bus. We arrived at Adrift Hostel surprised to see so many mzungus (white people). We were split into two different groups for rafting on the White Nile River. Kate was with Curry, Kevin, Matt, Aura, Jessie, Clairen and a South African guide named Greg. Lihi was with Zik, Andrea, Rachel, David, Camille and a Irish guide Graham. We were all very excited, but also a little nervous. We all went down class 3, 4, 5 rapids, the biggest and craziest one being ''Big Brother'' where most of us got tossed out as the rapid flipped the rafts over. Most of us were pretty frightened with the thrill of almost drowning, but we all made it out happy and safe.
Since then we've been staying at the Adrift Hostel which is literally on the Nile. Every night we get to watch the beautiful sunsets and star gaze.
We've have also been working through Adrift on an Environmental Conservation Project on land that they own but will later sell to the Jinja Community. We've also been seperated into 2 groups; One being Zik, Kate, Andrea, Matt, Jessie and Rachel and the other being Curry, Lihi, Kevin, David, Aura, Clairen and Camille. We switch everyday between two different projects and locations. One has been planting Mysopsis trees, which are quick growing trees that attract many local birds. Although it may not seem like it there is a huge deforestation problem here because many local village people tend to cut down the trees for many different reasons like houses, shops, firewood etc. The other project is building a walkway on an island to a future chimpanzee sanctuary.
We will be changing locations to work with Soft Power education where we will be painting a school and taking Swahili classes. We will be staying on site.

We're all safe and having fun, so parents don't worry.

Miss you and love you all.

Zik's Last Email! (hopefully)

Zik here one last time, happy to report that Kevin DIDN'T tell me a bold faced lie about having posted to the blog when we were back in Kampala. As it turned out, he saw a "Posted Successfully" message and thought he was done. I didn't actually believed he would have intentionally deceived me anyway, so when several of his teammates vouched for him, the "honesty" part of the meeting was over, and we talked a little about follow through.

As far as laziness and integrity go, I think the team now realizes that it's a wee bit inconsiderate and insensitive to keep their loved ones in the dark. So they've committed to keeping their word and doing a better job at keeping the blog updated on a regular basis.

Since 1) they're getting along so well, 2) I'm confident that they'll keep their word, and 3) this is supposed to be a student directed blog, this should be the last email you receive from me.

I imagine there may be another entry or 2 about rafting the Nile: the agony of being ejected from a raft, sucked under and tumbled (washing machine style, for longer than you think you can hold your breath); and the thrill of actually staying in the raft after plummeting over a waterfall twice the length of the boat. And I'm sure they'll get to details about our tree planting project to help the Ugandan government and Adrift replenish islands which were deforested for firewood and farming here in Jinja. So I'll sign off now, and rush back to the hostel campgrounds in time to make our first Carpe Diem FC soccer practice!

We're all happy, healthy and enjoying each others company, as well as the adventure.

Peace&Blessings,
Zik

Rachel

Hey all! I get to be the first one to post about our white water rafting day. I loved it. Honest and truly. Zik kept on laughing on me...because I just had this grin plastered to my face for the first three hours. I dunno how they're gonna top this adventure...but it was just gloriously awesome to swim and raft and (foreshadowing here!) get washed away in rapids in the infamous Nile. Yeah yeah yeah. I think I MAY have the adventure of the day freaking out our stoic guide Graham. The others in the boat later reported that he said over and over again..."Oh this is not good, not is not good. Paddle fast! Paddle hard!" Or something like that. But again. It was a crazy good day all around. What with Camille's ankle and Lihi totally overcoming her anticipation about the whole thing and Kevin being pants by the waves...good stories all around. My story is that after we came down this class V rapid...we decided to try and paddle against the churning water to make this fun run called Chop Suey. So there I was in the front left of the boat. And the water is still pretty turbulent from the waterfall we just came down (that's right, waterfall!...told you it was class V) and the water just dipped out and down so my bit of the boat just lunged suddenly and I went back into the water...feet over head. I instinctively mangaged to grap the rope. But the current was pretty strong and I guess I didn't know how much badness I was in or whatever. But I only held on for ten seconds or so before I was carried off. And I was carried off FAR. Quickly streaming far and beyond to the shallow parts and I was actually hitting stones and rocks. So I was kinda nervous then. I refuse to say scared...because I was breathing and keeping my eyes on Graham who shouted "Swim to me girl! Kick hard!" After hearing that I ditched my paddle and just focused on swimming hard. Which, although I was on swimteam at some point in my life, was pretty pathetic with my life vest and current working against me. A rescue kayaker came up to me then and gave me the back of the kayak to grab ahold of. He shouted over the sound of the water "Good girl, you strong. Kick harder! Good girl. Stronger. Kick harder, harder!" He dragged me back to the raft but I was on the front of it and Graham was grabbing my vest and hauling me in shouting "Get the fuck in here!" I got in after a bit and tried to get my seat but he pushed me down and said "stay down! stay down!" it was at that moment that we went over this other rapid. So close call there. I found out later thzt he had told the rest of the raft to back paddle..so they were fighting against going down the rapid until they got me. It wasn't good because a) I was getting in shallow parts b) because I would have gone down a rapid without a raft and c) Graham himself had to be resussitated (spelling?) near that spot. Not quite where I was...but not far either) I was shaky after that. But honestly I don't think anything terrible would have happened. The rescue kayak go to me pretty quickly and Graham's a pro for a reason. We had good runs after that. Lots of paddling but we managed to stay upright during the last rapid called, "The Bad Place"...twice actually. Which was pretty exhilarating. All in all...one of my best memories. :)

Kate

Hi everyone! We arived in Kampala about two weeks ago eager to start working on a project. We moved to Fort Portal and worked at a orphanage through YES! organization building a cow pen and a chicken coop. It was so amazing to see how much they appreciated our work. We stayed in quiet Fort Portal for about ten days. I'm pretty sure everyone will agree that we liked Fort Portal better than Kampala. We got back to Kampala yesterday and we are leaving for Jenja in the morning. We will rafting on the Nile tomorrow and staying in Jenja for the next two weeks or so. Everyone is having a great time, we are all really getting along and becoming closer every day! Africa is one on the most beautiful and amazing places I have ever been. The people here are so kind and will do almost anything for you. Sorry we have not been posting very much, it has been pretty hectic trying to get and stay online. We will continue updated as much as possible! Miss you all! Love you!

Jessie

Got back from Fort Portal working with Youth Encouragement Services. Built a chicken coop. Excited to go rafting. Having a good time.

David

Hey y'all everyone has basically said everything, I just have a few things to add. Every one's great and this is a wonderful experience, and everyone is safe. Working in Fort Portal was a growing experience and we hope to grow even more!!! I miss you mom and dad and the fam. times up and i got to go. goodbye everyone!!

Matt

Hey everyone!
I have no idea what I can say that everyone else hasn't already said. We got back to Kampala yesterday and since that is where we began it kinda felt like coming home. Then I realized we still have a couple more months here. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we're excited for those months. We had a great time building and actually getting to work in Fort Portal but we're ready to head on and do some new things. Nobody has died yet and we're hoping to keep our perfect record going.
Matt
p.s. hey mom! hope home is going well or california wherever you are right now.

Kevin

hello everyone i am sorry that my last post for some reason did not post. i logged on and clicked publish post and it said successfully posted. i tried to update you on the projects that we were doing and that we were alright. again i am very sorry for the inconvenience. Dear parents i'm sorry you had to hear that we are all lazy irresponsible children from our leaders i don't think it is fair to you and i believe you all did a fine job in bringing up wonderful people. i hope that you can forgive us but we are all doing fine and i think we are all loving this wonderful experience. Hope all is well at home and talk to you all soon.
Kevin

Lihi

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since we've posted.. It's hard to get internet here... especially since we didn't have much access in Fort Portal. Well anyways... we're back in Kampala after being in Fort Portal for a while. Fort Portal was beautiful. It was so green and it had the most amazing sky. We stayed at YES hostel (Youth Encouragement Services) hosted by Carol Adams, an American who has lived here for about 13 years helping kids in need have a better life and get an education. It's much more peaceful here in Fort Portal, especially because we are located right in the valley surrounded by nature.
We were assigned 2 different projects here, so they divided us into 2 groups. I was with Aura, Andrea, Jessie, Zik and David. We were assigned to build a chicken coop for a very big family. The family consists of an old grandmother, a blind grandfather, and about 24 children from the ages 1-15 (i think). The grandmother and grandfather have taken in the children of their deceased, alcoholic and homeless children. All 26 of them live in a mudhut about a 4th of the size of a simple house in the states. They all share beds and clothes and pretty much everything else they own.. which is not much. Sometimes they go a couple days without food and weeks or months without meat. Most of the kids have a sort of Protein deficiency, which can make them very sick. You can see they our work was greatly appreciated. ALthough we were unable to complete it Carpe Diem donated over 1000 dollars in our name. It was such an amazing experience to play with the kids and truly see the life of these people in 3rd world countries.

Everyone else worked at the Mana Rescue Home, I don't know much about their project, but I do know they they built a cow shed with the help of "Bruno and the boys". I'm sure they posted their projects in more detail.

This past week consisted of hard work days, but we all had fun and came out with much more cultural experience then we ever thought we would get.

Kate and I got our hair braided by a local woman. It took a few days, but we are having fun with it...

My ring worm is going away... RIP Alfredo. But really, I've been taking antifungal pills, so everything is good.

Well since everyone has been posting I am assuming were still going rafting.... hopefully I'll survive.

Miss you all!

Aura

Hey everyone,

Everything is great here, we are all having fun.
As everyone else said before we just came back from Fort Portal which was fun and especially much more quiet.
We now have a free day in Kampala before going to Jinja. Hopefully it will be fun as well.

Andrea

hola a todos..ya estamos de vuelta en Kampala..todo fenomenal! anyways..were doing great so far..last night Kevin and i tried posting something we wrote but apparently something went wrong and it never really got posted! sorry about that.. anyways..we were sayiung that Fort Portal was amazing..part of the group got to work at Roses(one of the girls that worked for Carol Adams)house building a chiken coop and the other half of the group built a cow shed at Mana Rescue Home,which serves as home for children who are HIV positive.It was a great experience and can assure that by now, most of us are either expert cement mixers or cualified carpenters..We are now ready to move on to our next project,conservation project, in Jinja. Hopefully we will go rafting tomorrow since we are all really looking forward to it and have a great time! we will keep you posted as often as possible..
Cheers,
Andrea(aka the spaniard)

Clairen

This will be my first post on the group blog! Hello everyone! We are all so sorry for not being able to keep the blog updated so far. The internet access in Fort Portal was very sketchy and most of us didnt even get much of a chance to check our personal emails. Thank you Backpackers Hostel in Kampala for having GREAT internet connection! :D

Africa is incredible. I really can't think of any words to describe it! I've only been here two weeks and have grown so much already! I can only imagine what I will be like 2 months from now.

The first week was really hard for me. I had some homesickness issues that were really getting to me. But after a very helpful phone conversation with my dad and tons of support from the leaders and whole group, I have been feeling SO much better. Every person in this group is so wonderful and has been helpful and encouraging to me in every way. I want to send a huge thank you to my family as well who have been sending me the most enlightening emails. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

In Fort Portal I was in the group that built the cow shed at the Mana Rescue Home for children with AIDS/HIV. What an experience! At times it was quite hard physical work. But we were blessed with amazing woman providing us scruptious lunches and loads of adorable children who loved to love and be loved in return. It was quite touching to spend time with these kids. They always had huge smiles spread across their faces and never stopped giggling and playing. How inspirational!

We are now in Kampala resting up before our rafting trip and next service project in Jinja. I am SOOO EXCITED for rafting on the Nile! It's going to be incredible!

To Mom, Dad, Giselle, Grandma Pat, Grandma Maureen, Cameron, and everyone who has been so loving and supportive...I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

God Bless,

Clairen

Camille

Yesterday we left the beautiful fort portal and came back to the still beautiful but grungy kampala. While still in Fort Portal we got to see Eddie ( a friend of currys) graduation gear before him, his girlfriend Nadja, and Curry went off to his graduation. It was his last day at mountain of the moons university! needless to say we were proud. Thankyou so much mom for sending money! Some pretty bad news, ive twisted my ankle and will probably not be able to go river rafting . We still have a day of resting so i am hoping that my ankle will get better but neither the pain, swelling, or bruising is subsiding. DONT WORRY though! I am perfectly okay and what better way to rest an ankle is there then sitting under a eucalyptus tree reading a book while someone from the group takes care of me .

Pierre's birthday is coming ever nearer and i cannot wait to here all about it!?!? Also mom i wanted to say thankyou for reasurring me about dad and you. All we hear about is economy losses, budjet cuts, and Campaign's being stopped. All we can se here is british newscast and they make it sound like a great depression is taking place in America! see what happens when i leave you... Anywho we all have to vote here, because are group leaders are very adamant about that kind of stuff, exactly why i know more about politics and whats going on in hte economy here then i ever do when im back home. The only problem is i dont know who to vote for. i know nothing about either party, but my whole group is voting for Obama. I dont want to feel forced to vote for him (i sort of am) but then again i dont think i have a choice.

I brough some material in Fort Portal and i am going to get something made for me in jinja i am really happy about taht since they make things for you here for about $2.50. Everything here is so cheap but the deceaving extra zeros are very funny. the current exchange rate is about 1600 shillings to 1 dollar. I think that soon i will be just buying clothes as i go since i have almost no clean clothes and hand washing has become my biggest fear. It is sooooo irritating!!!! the things i cannot wait to come back for are at the moment: dishwashers, cheese (we all weirdly enough miss this the most...), and all of youu!!!

I will try to call when we are jinja which should be four days from now!

Bonjour Mamy et Papy!!! Love you all.

Camille

We're safe and sound in Kampala

Dear Parents,

I apologize that your children have kept you in the dark for so long. Curry and I have asked them several times to update the blog, but for some reason they haven't been able to do so yet.

To be fair, long work days (building a cow shed and chicken coop for AIDS orphans), limited internet connections, and frequent power outages made updating the blog from Fort Portal very challenging. However, Curry and I will be having a meeting with them this evening discussing laziness, integrity, and honesty. You see, Kevin informed me this morning that he had, in fact, already updated the blog. So imagine my dismay to log on and find out that they are still negligent! Again, my sincere apologies.

To rectify the situation, I have just spoken with Jessie, asking her to relay a message to the entire group that I want EACH of them to do an individual update before they go to sleep tonight. If they are unable to comply, we may have to forgo the rafting trip on the Nile until they do.

Rest assured that we're all safe and sound, and that everyone is in good spirits. Hopefully you'll hear from each of them very soon regarding the incredible things we've experienced since arriving in Uganda.

Peace&Blessings,
Zik

first post on the scavenger hunt

yoyoyoyoyo this is the first group to post on the blog hope you other groups can keep up on the scavenger hunt hahaha rachel andrea clairen kevin later

From SFO

Courtesy of Lihi's mom, Jacquelini from the SFO airport. Not everyone is in this photo, but man they look great together!

We Have Our Complete Team

Just a quick heads-up: I just got a call from Azikiwe and the entire team of Africa Carpe Diem-ers have been gathered in Amsterdam. It's looking like a solid and well-rounded crew - together at last!

- Ethan

Let the Journey Begin

Well, it's official, they're together and ready! The group leaders just gave me a call and they have their full US-group is there! In about three hours they'll be airborne and embarking on a journey of three-months and a thousand experiences. The group will be met in Amsterdam by the final two students, David and Andrea, and I hope to get another blog posted as soon as I've confirmed their meeting.

In the meantime, I'm sure over the next few months you'll have photos of all kinds, calls of many emotions, and growth in more angles than you could imagine. May this be the beginning of a truly momentous and transformative semester!

Yours in spirit and adventure,
Ethan

Get PSYCHED! Only 4 more days before we take off!

Welcome to the student-run site for Carpe Diem's fall 2008 trip to East Africa!

Curry and I, the fearless Program Leaders, have been busy here in Portland, OR training with the Carpe Diem staff and the 14 leaders in charge of the 7 trips headed to other parts of the globe.

Among other things, we've been camping, completing Wilderness First Aid training, and finalizing details of the trip. We've also perused our group's files and are psyched about the awesome group of students we'll be traveling with this semester. As you can see from the itinerary below, we're in for an awesome ride!

We're looking forward to meeting our students at San Francisco International Airport's KLM desk for international departures at 11:30AM on September 10th!

Students, if there are any missed connections, call the toll free number ASAP: 1-877-285-1808. A Crape Diem staff member will be there to help you out 24/7.

Check this site often for updates from our students regarding the magical semester of team building, community service, exploration, growth, and FUN on which we are about to embark.

Peace,
Zik

Updated Program Itinerary

Date	Description
Sept. 10	Depart San Francisco International Airport to Entebbe, Uganda
Sept. 12	Arrive Entebbe, Uganda and travel to backpackers hostel outside of Kampala
Sept. 12 - 16	Orientation at local hostel with occasional trip into Kampala for scavenger hunts
Sept. 16	Travel by bus to Fort Portal in the Western side of Uganda
Sept. 16 - 25	Volunteer with Youth Encouragement Services working on construction at an HIV/AIDS orphanage
Sept. 25	Travel overland back to Kampala and overnight
Sept. 26	Travel overland from Kampala to Jinja and overnight
Sept. 27	Rafting!
Sept. 28	Get settled with Volunteer project
Sept. 28 - Oct . 5	Volunteer with Adrift on Environmental Conservation project
Oct. 5	Free day in Jinja for relaxation, email, pizza, etc.
Oct. 6 - 12	Volunteer with Soft Power Education. Homestays and Swahili tutor.
Oct. 12	Travel overland back to Kampala and overnight
Oct. 13	Travel overland across the Tanzanian border to the town of Bukoba
Oct. 13 - 15	Free days in the sleepy Lake Victoria town of Bukoba
Oct. 15	Ferry across Lake Victoria to Mwanza where we're met by our safari company, Tanzannature Tours. Ferry runs only on M, W, & F
Oct. 16	Free day in Mwanza to recover from the ferry trip
Oct. 16 - 19	Safari through the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater
Oct. 19 - 22	Safari: begin three-day trek from the Ngorongoro Crater rim down to Lake Natron; camping with local Maasai tribesmen
Oct. 22	Overnight in Arusha for comfort and email
Oct. 23	Free day in Arusha. Eeew, but necessary for more email and comfort
Oct. 24	Travel by local transport to Homestays in local village
Oct. 24 - Nov. 8	Homestays and Swahili classes in village immediately outside of Arusha
Nov. 8	Travel by bus to Moshi and start working with Amani Street Kids Project
Nov. 9 - 20	Volunteer with Amani Street Kids
Nov. 20 - 25	Free Travel
Nov. 25	Overnight in Dar Es Salaam
Nov. 26	Ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar
Nov. 26 - Dec. 3	SCUBA Diving on Zanzibar Island
Dec. 3	Fly from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam and on to Arusha for connections home.