just a little trip down memory lane
Some pictures from my trip to Africa. God, I could not miss it more. Uploaded just because...well, I felt like being nostalgic. But feel free to look/enjoy!
1. This is a market we visited in Nairobi, Kenya
Overly persuasive vendors; getting lost in the maze of shops; befriending random people; haggling prices down for the first time (and failing); candlesticks
2. The church I (and Mark and Liz) attended a service at just outside of Arusha, Tanzania.
beautiful music; must be less than 20 in this congregation; drums!; a sermon in swahili over an hour long and completely unintelligble yet more poignant than anything I've ever heard; community; waiting for the elderly woman to leave the church; clapping; let your voices touch the skies
3. Mt. Kilimanjaro from a distance, taken from the bus.
that stupid bus, so many hours spent; falling asleep on the shoulders of new friends; the snow-capped mountains looming in the distance; dust in your eyes, nose, hair; unspeakably beautiful
4. The trail going up Mt. Kilimanjaro. Yes. We hiked it. (Well, up to the base, aka where the serious hikers consider the start of the trail. And it was obscenely difficult. Don't judge.)
monkeys!; can't breathe, have we used up the second water bottle yet?; the end of the pack is cooler than the front, anyways; new conversations with new people, new insight that seems so silly now, so already done; hoping for things that will probably never happen, no no; only stupid people get altitude poisoning; befriending the porter, who honestly didn't need to laugh at me; keep. plodding. on.
5. The United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) where we stayed in Arusha, Tanzania. It's run by two ex-Black Panthers, essentially exiled from the United States under false charges who moved to Tanzania and set up a center that provides schooling and water to the surrounding community. They are RIDICULOUSLY cool. Good lord, I miss this place. The laundry you see is from laundry night, which involved me, Mark, Clive, Liz, and Danny setting up an assembly line and washing our clothes in a giant tub outside underneath the stars. It worked so well. ;)
home away from home; never seen stars this bright, damn you air pollution; did you really forget to take your malaria pills again?!; breakfast every morning so goddamn early, always the same, always so good; tea; movies at night; spray yourself with that 99.99% deet and sit back, listen to the crickets sing; bunk beds like doormooms, roomates like family
6. The children of a classroom we visited in Tanzania. We all split up into groups, so it was essentially me and Ms. Billingham talking to this entire class. Intimidating, yes. But so adorable.
holding hands and singing nursery rhymes; thought we were so cool teaching you "twinkle twinkle little star" until you already knew it; so enthusiastic about education; maybe this is something I could do with my life
7. Tanzania: the open highway.
and we keep moving on, on, on...
8. The Ngorongoro Crater, where we did our safari. Also the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.
elephants, for the first time in my life!; zebras, buffalo, wildabeast, oh my!; did that elephant just charge our safari car?!; eating lunch beside the hippo river, watching day-old pizza getting sploshed with rain; every Lion King dream I've ever had coming true; monkeys monkeys monkeys baboons!
9. A typical jewelry stand, although I think this one was outside a museum. I wish I had bought more of this stuff.
haggle reasonably, jeeze; the sheer pride of being able to purchase something, anything; never going to take this bracelet off, I promise; beautifully crafted, so wonderfully unique
10. Sunrise on the Ngorongoro crater. Time to start another day.
I miss this place more than I can say. I'm going back there someday.
1. This is a market we visited in Nairobi, Kenya
Overly persuasive vendors; getting lost in the maze of shops; befriending random people; haggling prices down for the first time (and failing); candlesticks
2. The church I (and Mark and Liz) attended a service at just outside of Arusha, Tanzania.
beautiful music; must be less than 20 in this congregation; drums!; a sermon in swahili over an hour long and completely unintelligble yet more poignant than anything I've ever heard; community; waiting for the elderly woman to leave the church; clapping; let your voices touch the skies
3. Mt. Kilimanjaro from a distance, taken from the bus.
that stupid bus, so many hours spent; falling asleep on the shoulders of new friends; the snow-capped mountains looming in the distance; dust in your eyes, nose, hair; unspeakably beautiful
4. The trail going up Mt. Kilimanjaro. Yes. We hiked it. (Well, up to the base, aka where the serious hikers consider the start of the trail. And it was obscenely difficult. Don't judge.)
monkeys!; can't breathe, have we used up the second water bottle yet?; the end of the pack is cooler than the front, anyways; new conversations with new people, new insight that seems so silly now, so already done; hoping for things that will probably never happen, no no; only stupid people get altitude poisoning; befriending the porter, who honestly didn't need to laugh at me; keep. plodding. on.
5. The United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) where we stayed in Arusha, Tanzania. It's run by two ex-Black Panthers, essentially exiled from the United States under false charges who moved to Tanzania and set up a center that provides schooling and water to the surrounding community. They are RIDICULOUSLY cool. Good lord, I miss this place. The laundry you see is from laundry night, which involved me, Mark, Clive, Liz, and Danny setting up an assembly line and washing our clothes in a giant tub outside underneath the stars. It worked so well. ;)
home away from home; never seen stars this bright, damn you air pollution; did you really forget to take your malaria pills again?!; breakfast every morning so goddamn early, always the same, always so good; tea; movies at night; spray yourself with that 99.99% deet and sit back, listen to the crickets sing; bunk beds like doormooms, roomates like family
6. The children of a classroom we visited in Tanzania. We all split up into groups, so it was essentially me and Ms. Billingham talking to this entire class. Intimidating, yes. But so adorable.
holding hands and singing nursery rhymes; thought we were so cool teaching you "twinkle twinkle little star" until you already knew it; so enthusiastic about education; maybe this is something I could do with my life
7. Tanzania: the open highway.
and we keep moving on, on, on...
8. The Ngorongoro Crater, where we did our safari. Also the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.
elephants, for the first time in my life!; zebras, buffalo, wildabeast, oh my!; did that elephant just charge our safari car?!; eating lunch beside the hippo river, watching day-old pizza getting sploshed with rain; every Lion King dream I've ever had coming true; monkeys monkeys monkeys baboons!
9. A typical jewelry stand, although I think this one was outside a museum. I wish I had bought more of this stuff.
haggle reasonably, jeeze; the sheer pride of being able to purchase something, anything; never going to take this bracelet off, I promise; beautifully crafted, so wonderfully unique
10. Sunrise on the Ngorongoro crater. Time to start another day.
I miss this place more than I can say. I'm going back there someday.