Moshi Hotels
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Orientation Day 3
Entry 12 of 26 | show all | print this entry |
Monday, Orientation Day 2
Habari! I got up at 6:30 this morning, hoping to get on the internet. Alas, someone beat me to it! Breakfast was at7:00, delicious as usual. Then we learned about basic Swahili greetings, divided into groups of two and were given assignments to carry out. My assignment was to follow the directions given down the dirt road we live on to a common African house. We were to buy 1-2 sugar canes from them. When we got there, the daughter (29 something) was outside washing clothes. We greeted her and tried to ask about the sugarcane, We didn't know the word for sugar cane, so we said sugar and motioned with our hands. She called a very old lady out to help us. (Neither of them speaks English) She grabbed a humongous knife and took us out to the field. She chopped down 2 cans for us. She was very upset because she got my skirt dirty, and was trying hard to clean it off. We asked about payment and she said 500 shillings (abt .50) But we only had a 1000 shilling bill. We told her to keep the change. They were very happy and waved goodbye to us. Back at the house, we were told that we should only have paid 200 shillings, so I guess we got taken! But, at least it was only $1.00. Then we realized that we hadn't done proper greetings. We were so concerned with memorizing how to ask for the sugar cane, that we forgot in Tanzania you are first supposed to converse. A lesson learned for us!
After everyone completed their tasks, we all sat and exchanged our experiences and our program manager critiqued and gave suggestions. Then we had an hour break and then Lunch! I would love to tell you what it was, but I am very tired and I forget. It is 9:15pm here, and most everyone else is asleep. This is the only time I get to write the Blog.
After lunch we had a Swahili lesson, and a cultural lesson on the Tanzanian Family and country. Not very good for women. Also, homosexuality is illegal and you get 13 yrs in prison for it. Smoking in public is also illegal, but I don't think you get jail time.
Then we walked about ¾ mile to the Kawasaki Bar. It is on this dirt road, and you would never expect a bar to be there. It is open-air with dirt floors and chickens running around between the tables. Eight of us were meeting a company to arrange a safari. I have decided that my credit card is going to treat me to this weekend safari. We are leaving Friday at noon. We go to Arusha, then a Masssai village then a park I forget the name of now. We stay in a lodge that night then visit the crater on Saturday and another park on Sunday. I will tell you their names next tome. I am very excited!
So my job starts tomorrow, and I am going to go to bed now. I hope I do great at my placement! I'll let you know more tomorrow evening!
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