Milima ya Usambara

Irente Farm

On Friday we woke up with the sun, and boarded the "Califonia Dreamer", an old riquety bus filled with too many people, to travel nine hours to Lushoto.  The bus ride was long and hot, but once we arrived in Lushoto, we all argreed it was worth the journey.  Lushoto is up in the beautiful Usambara Mountains in Northeastern Tanzania.  Once we arrived, a guide from the tourism office found us at the bus station and gave us directions to Irente Biodiversity Reserve and Farm.  We hiked for about an hour up to Irente.  The mountain air felt so cool and crisp, compared to warm city we live in.  

Upon arriving at the farm we were greeted by Annette, a cute gray-haired Swedish women, who lives there, and Flora, our Tanzanian hostess.  She showed us to our cute little guest house, where we would be staying for the next two days.  We got settled as the sun set and the temperatures, for  first time in since I've been here, dropped enough to put long sleeves on.  Flora brought us our farm fresh dinner of rice and a roast with delicious veggies.  Then we chatted and drank tea in our comfy little living room.

After a breakfast of fresh jam, rye bread, and cheeses, we met our guides.  They showed us the way through the farms and villages that lay throughout the mountains. Each child we passed, our who saw us yelled out, "Mambo!" and often would chase after us excitedly.  We walked through one village, and found two Chameleons crossing the road.  Our guides picked them up, and let each of us hold them.  They were such unique little creatures, with two little toes, horns, and a spiral tail.  They reminded me of a dinosaur!

We past an old German house, from the colonial era, as well as sugar cane, maize, and banana fields.  Many of the crops were brought here by the colonizers to act as cash crops, to help finance the colonial structure. We crossed a creek, and then entered a rainforest.  The whole area use to be forest before the colonizers decided to cut it down for agriculture.  Now this rainforest is being preserved to protect all of the different kinds of animals and plants that live there.  We hiked up and up, to a lookout tower where we could see Lushoto and all of the surrounding area. 

Our guides made us lunch at the top, that was from the farm.  We ate delicious guacamole, cheese, bread, jam, hard-boiled eggs, and bananas.  Satisfied with a great lunch, we continued back down the other side through the rainforest.  We emerged back at the little village, and then took a path down to Lushoto. 

In Lushoto we bought veggies and pasta at the market and some local sweet red wine to make for dinner.  On the walk back to the farm, a group of kids each gave me a little flower they picked off a nearby bush.  I walked proudly with my little bouquet.  Then we stopped to try the local sugar cane beer, which was quite tart.  They made it all right there though, with a press, and vats for fermentation. 













Back at our guest house, a delicious spaghetti was made and greatly enjoyed with awesome conversation. (:

Nyumbani ya Bibi

A Cooking Excursion

 Saturday morning we loaded up the Dalla Dalla to go to a Bibi's (Grandmother) house.  Bibi is a local woman with a big bustling family.  We arrived and were seated on the patio area of their home.  They served mandazi, coffee, and peanut brittle.

 Then we learned how to make coconut rice, and actually carved out the coconut using a tool that you can actually sit on.

They showed us how to make a meat sauce using the tools in the photo above.  Then we watched as they stirred pilau in this giant pan. 

   We also learned how to make chapati using flour, water, and oil.  Chapati is like a thin fried pancake, that is super tasty.Here is Bibi teaching us how to make it.  Then each of us got a turn frying it up.

 

The kids watched and entertained us through the whole experience.  These are the two Stanford girls.  Note her t-shirt.

At the end this was the final product! Tamu sana!

Shindano ya Mbuzi

A Day at the Races

 well...goat races that is

Bajaj-covered tricycle

After donning our fancy clothes and enjoying a light breakfast (; we headed to the races.  Our chariots were the new age bajaj that kindly dropped us off at the front gate.  We entered to find a new world filled with many types of people.  The entire spectacle was quite overwhelming.   There was food from Italy, Thailand, and more, and booths set up to advertise the various charities the race was supporting.    The goats came from all over Africa to race, and their respective owners were very excited.  We watched as they were carried onto the race track and set up.  Now goats are not natural racers, so behind the goats they drug a large piece of material and chased them around the tracks.  Once around....then twice....then the winner! Number seven - Baaaaaaaaaaaazokah won the race.  Oh it was all quite exciting.  Too bad I didn't bet on lil' guy.

After all that excitement we needed a break so we headed down to watch the sunset at coco beach and enjoy a coca-cola.

Ubalozi wa Marekani

A Day at the Embassy

After a long bus ride through crazy Tanzanian traffic, we arrived at the US Embassy.  I learned very quickly that pictures were not allowed after trying to take a photo of the sign on the outside.  (I did succeed in getting one before he told me though, ha).  We then handed our passports and went through a security check.  Leah, who works in the consular office, came to greet us.  She was a tall women with blonde hair, and spoke Swahili to all the security guards. 

Inside the grass was nicely cut, and everything was tranquil especially in comparison to the crazy traffic going on outside.  We walked past the USAID office and then into the State Department Office.  Inside there was air conditioning! Something I haven't felt since I got here.  Everything was perfectly clean and nicely framed.  We were definitely on US soil.  On the way to the conference room there was a small cafe that advertised American Pancakes. (wow I wish we could have stopped there).  On the wall of the conference room was a landscape painting of a golden field with a high mountain rising in the background.  Below it read, "Montana Prairie", which made me feel a bit homesick. The more times I leave Montana the more times I fall in love with it.

Four foreign service officers stood at the front of the room.  One was actually from the USAID office.  They explained to us how to become a foreign service officer, the difference between the Embassies role and USAID, and different fellowships available for students.  They also explained how when you are in the foreign service you move every two years, and you don't really get a large amount of choice in where you live, especially during your first few tours.  One person would head off to Belize in a year, another had just come from Russia, and another was headed to Vietnam.  Through that career you really become a world traveler.  There job is basically to report on different subjects to keep the State Department informed and meet with officials in the country to discuss the US stance on issues.  The work sounded very interesting, but the moving every two years would certainly be challenging. 

Several of the officers left about an hour later for meetings, so we were escorted out.  Left the quietness of the embassy behind to reemerge in beautiful crazy Africa.