Bush Babies

Hey guys!

I got to Arusha yesterday and it was the first time in 7 days that I had stepped inside a building. When we got off the plane last Thursday Baba Jack our academic advisor handed each of us a 1.5 liter water bottle, loaded us in a bus and told us to start hydrating.  40 minutes into the drive we all had to pee more than i ever thought possible.  The group pee in the bush was our first group activity and it must of created a strong bond because we all are close friends already. We spent the next 6 nights in a ranch between mount Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru. The animals were awesome and on our group walks we easily saw impala, inland, zebra, elephants, giraffes, bat-eared fox, spring hare, wildebeest, antelope, water buffalo, honey badgers, baboons, verbet monkeys and amazing birds. We even saw an inland giving birth! We also learned about local Maasai tribes and got to go to their church, in some of their homes (bomas), buy jewelry, and try some herbal medicine tea. We also saw sunsets from a treehouse overlooking wildlife, went on nature hikes and night game drives, and ate at local bars and restaurants.

The driving here is insane!  If the car in front of you drops below your preferred speed you pass them on either side, whether there is a car coming the other way or not. Arusha is packed with people screaming "muzungu" at us and most assume that if there are any other whites in the city they must be our friends. But our 2 swahili classes are coming in quite handy and we are learning fast. I can usually have at least a 3 minute conversation with a Tanzanian here, and they are all eager to talk with us and very patient. We learned about our home stay families today and I found out that mine is a family of banana farmers with a bibi and babu (grandma and grandpa), mama, and 2 kids, and I am very excited to meet them. We have tomorrow free and Sunday we are off to Tarangire National Park for 4 days, than Mto wa Mbo (Mosquito River) and Lake Manyara before traveling to the rainforest in the west Usambara mts for a week. As you can tell Baba Jack is very successful at keeping us busy and off the internet but I will write when I have a chance!