Slippers of Aloha

We are on our way!

It’s been quite a journey all ready, months of planning and anticipation, generous donations and the kind words of others – the knowing that our lives will never be the same. I am so grateful to be able to share this amazing journey with my daughter. It is rare for us to have time alone together.  Most of the time we have husbands and kids and other family around.  We are both looking forward to it and keep joking about us “running away from home” together.  It turns out that we worked well together. We laughed together, cried together, backed each other up when we needed it and gave each other space.  Never had a hard moment. Our lives changed. After countless hours of planning and research, I still don’t know what to expect.  I’ve decided to let go of all that I am anticipating and just be.  We have created lesson plans for the days we will be working at the school and have gathered all of the supplies to make it all come together, but we really don’t know what to expect.  All I know for sure is that I see countless little faces calling out for love and affection. My intention for the trip:  Be in the moment – enjoy – connect – appreciate – make a difference.

We arrive in Moshi at 8:30 pm after 25 hours of travel and are greeted by someone from i-to-i to help guide us through customs.  We realize that our 4, large, oversized bags did not arrive with us.  I am thankful that we brought an extra shirt with us in our carry-on. A friend of mine, who has taught English as a second language in many places around the world, told me that her motto has always been, “monitor and adjust”.  Think we will be using that a lot on this trip.  We had a pleasant 45-min drive from the airport into Moshi with lots of questions both ways.  Mr. Lymio (rhymes with “Nemo”) speaks very good English and we found out that he has been with i-to-i for 2 years after retiring from farming, growing banana, avocado and coffee.  He quit farming because the weather had changed and he couldn’t get the harvest that he needed to make a living.  Arrived at our hotel, The Keys, one of the better hotels in Moshi, at 10 pm, totally exhausted. Had a quick bite to eat, a cold shower (hot water is a luxury here and one of the things that I will miss) and then to bed under our mosquito nets.  Awoke at 5 am to the sounds of the call to prayer from the local mosque.  Anxious to see our surroundings we looked out the hotel window to a view of African Tulip, bananas, mango and avocado trees, with chickens clucking in the yard next door.  Jeni commented that it looked like my back yard in Hawaii.  Downstairs for breakfast we were greeted by the Hotel Manager who was a lady from Singapore.  She was dressed in a very skimpy outfit which surprised us as we were told that Moshi is a Muslim area and our dress had to be conservative, shoulders and knees covered at all times.  We had many good laughs about the “Singaporean Lady” during our trip.  We were happy to find good, strong coffee and a nice selection of fresh fruit (watermelon, papaya, mango and bananas) for breakfast.  Mid-morning we met with the volunteer coordinator, Shelly.  She is 35, from Australia, and has only been working here a few months after coming to Moshi several times as a volunteer.  After discussing our projects and schedule for the next day she walked us into town, which was about 20 minutes away.   I am surprised to see how much the vegetation reminds me of Hawaii.  All the trees are familiar to me.  It is much greener than I imagined it would be but am reminded that it is the end of the rainy season and things will be much dryer in a few months.  Moshi is a busy little town with a population of about 150,000 if you include the vast outlying areas.  The main road is a wide and busy two-lane highway.  Cars, buses and people are everywhere.  The streets are lined with small shops selling anything and everything and street vendors line the sidewalks selling mostly fruit and cheap tourist trinkets. There are lots of people on the street, men seemingly just “hanging out” and women in a variety of colorful local clothing walking about balancing large baskets of fruit on their head.  The large billboards showing stylish people using cell phones in modern shopping malls amuse us.  As everywhere in the world, Coca-cola signs provide a splash of red.  There is a fine layer of smoke from cooking fires and from burning rubbish that seems to constantly hang in the air.  It is dusty and there is a prevalence of exhaust fumes from the diesel fueled cars and buses.  It is exotic and charming.  There are “street hawkers” everywhere that approach you in perfect English with, “Hi, where are you from?” At first it seems that they are just friendly but really they want to sell you cheap crafts or their services as a guide.  They are very persistent and they made us feel uncomfortable that first day in town.  We eventually learned how to deal with them – but that first day, we must have seemed like an easy mark – two, blonde woman, all alone, trying to find our way around.    Several children greeted us with “Hi, How are you?”  Obviously anxious to practice their English and many stopped us asking for a picture from the camera that I carried over my shoulder the whole time I was there.  They were delighted to see themselves in the photo viewer on the camera and their pictures are almost always met with giggles and big smiles.  Made our way back to the hotel mid-afternoon and both of us took a nap as jet lag was fierce.  Woke around dinnertime and made our way downstairs to meet up with two men that we had briefly talked to the night before for dinner.  Gerald from Uganda and Mark from UK.  Both are here in Moshi working on Fair Trade Agreements for the coffee farmers and reducing the carbon footprint of the area through re-foresting projects.  Had a fascinating dinner conversation with them covering everything from politics, to fair trade to local ag practices to reducing global footprints.  Gerald makes the comment that most Ugandan’s feel that Obama was being elected for the sole purpose of being made to fail in order to make black men look bad.  It will be our first of many discussions of Obama while we are here. Several items they talked about reminded me of issues raised during my work on the Hamakua Ag Plan.  One I will share is; the ranchers in Hamakua were adamant that they be allowed to divide their property up between their children when they passed on regardless of the parcel size.  In the Kilimanjaro region this practice has been going on for many generations.  The farms had been divided up and passed down so many times that the coffee farms that have historically made a ring around Mt. Kilimanjaro are now replaced with houses.  It was interesting to see the long-term effects of practices that, on the surface seem reasonable, but in the long term destroy what it is you are trying to preserve.  We’re back in our room by 11, slept soundly until the 5am call to prayers, which will serve as our alarm clock for our time in Moshi.  Had our first hot shower since arriving (YEAH!).  Still no bags but the shirt we had washed in the sink the day before was mostly dry.

The Volunteer House

Arrived at the volunteer house around noon to find our luggage waiting for us.  A few things were missing, the most important being the I Pod and base that we had brought so we could have music for the kids.  Another opportunity to “monitor and adjust”. The staff greeted us very warmly, a truly, genuine, warm welcome.  There is no shortage of Aloha Spirit here, in fact, the Tanzanian people pride themselves on being friendly and frankly we could learn a thing or two from them.   The volunteer house is in Soweto, a more affluent part of Moshi.  It is a gated and walled compound consisting of two large, older homes and several small round “huts” in the  yard.  The rooms in the houses are all "dorm style" accommodations with 3-4 bunk beds in each room and shared baths.  We decided to “upgrade” to a hut in the yard, which was just big enough for a twin bed and private bath which consisted of a toilet, sink and shower with a small hose coming from where the shower head should be.  It is so small that the whole bathroom becomes wet when you shower. The accommodations are minimal but are clean and adequate. The grounds are lush and green and well maintained. There is a Masai Warrior for a night watchman and three dogs. It feels safe here.  There is a wave of new volunteers arriving over the weekend.  There will be about 40 all together when everyone has arrived.  Most of them are in their early 20’s and in college.  Almost all of them are young woman with the majority  from UK, Ireland and Scotland.  Only a few of them are from the States.  All of them are very sweet, well traveled and happy to be here.  We meet up with a few that have been here for a while and they offer to walk us into town.  The walk into town takes us down a well-trodden dirt path through a large field of wildflowers, ground cover and stands of sunflowers and then through a housing area where children run to us from all directions.  They get between us and grab our hands calling out “one, two, three”, ready for a swing.  They seem very happy and are very cute.  Continuing on, we head into town.  Not as many street hawkers bothering us today.  Our escorts show us where the stationary store is for school supplies, the local market and we part ways at the local coffee/internet spot where we actually will spend a lot of time at over the next few weeks.  It is “Starbucks” – Moshi style.  The shop is clean, the coffee strong and the food pretty good.  There are 5-6 computers with slow internet connection but it serves to keep us somewhat connected to family and friends at home.  The “squat hole” for a toilet in the bathroom is the only reminder that we are in Africa.  Monitor and Adjust… Back to the house by 4 and down for a nap.  It will take almost a week to catch up on jet lag.  I have crossed 13 time zones.  My body has no idea what time it is.  Some days I’m so tired I can’t even think.  I will wake up at 3 am for several days and nap every afternoon until I get on track.  The staff wakes us for dinner, which is cooked outside the kitchen over small hibachis that burn charcoal.  Dinner consists of potatoes, a super yummy green bean dish, a cabbage dish and fresh pineapple.  Other favorite meals include beans and freshly made flat bread and a spinach type dish with interesting spices.  Fresh fruit accompanies every meal.

Orientation Day

All the new volunteers have arrived and today the team leaders take us on an orientation tour of town, I am sure we are quite a sight, a big group of "Muzungu" (White people without the negativity that “haole” implies”) walking through town.  We stop for lunch at a popular spot, which serves everything from hamburgers and pizza to Chinese, Italian and Indian food.  It takes about 2 hours for us all to get our food and to eat.  “African time” is even slower than “Hawaiian time”.    We stop at a local ATM, which is guarded by two heavily armed men and are immediately surrounded by the street hawkers.  One attaches to me and I can’t shake him.  Sometimes if they realize they aren’t going to sell you anything, they just want to talk, which is the case today. He calls himself “American Joe”. He’s 18, looks like he could be from any metropolitan area in the US, he is a polished salesman and prides himself on knowing American slang – “hanging out”, “whatz up”, and wants me to teach him more.  Not knowing much ghetto slang, the only thing I can think of is “Shaka” which he quickly learns.  I see him several times during our stay in Moshi and we form a friendship.  Our last day in Moshi, I run into him, and tell him we will be leaving the next day.  He tells me how much he has enjoyed our talks and he takes a bracelet off his arm and gives it to me.  I was very touched.  He has so little and yet he freely offers me something of his.  I will treasure that moment forever. Back to the house, we get ready for our first day of school tomorrow.  I am apprehensive but excited at the same time.

Woke early and headed off to school.  It’s about an hour walk, thru the field, thru town, across the tracks, thru a crowded and poor neighborhood to our school.  The classroom is inside a small walled area surrounded by several small living units.  It has a tin roof but is open on one side.  There is no bathroom.  We are greeted by a very enthusiastic group of about 40 children from 3 to 6 singing us a song of welcome.  There are 6 rows of long tables with benches for the children to sit on. The younger children are in the front of the class and the older ones are in the back.  They are so cute.  Some of the young ones don’t look more than 2.  Every seat is taken and there is an overflow table off to the side. As soon as we arrive, Teacher Leah steps aside and tells us to take over.  She had been writing math on the blackboard when we came in so I continue with that.  The blackboard is so old it is hard to write on.  The uneven surface keeps breaking the chalk. It is faded and it is hard to see what is being written.  A new chalkboard will be our first purchase with the Slippers of Aloha donations. It appears that for the majority of the day the students sit in their seat and copy simple math problems off the board, repeat their ABC’s, count to 100, sing songs and take a nap which consists of them laying their head on the table and make noises like they are snoring – so funny.  There is a wide range of skills – some of the students are very bright, yelling out the correct answers quickly.  Others can hardly hold a pencil and seem lost.  There are so many in a class that it is hard to give extra attention to the ones that need it. Some are bright-eyed and fully engaged, some are sickly looking. All of them want our attention calling out “teacher, teacher” and wanting to touch my hair.  Halfway through the day we have completed everything on our lesson plan – monitor and adjust.  We pass out crayons and paper and everyone writes their ABC’s.  As they finish they are rewarded with a star sticker.  This causes mass pandemonium.  Many want more than one and try to trick us by hiding the one they got in their mouth while asking for another one.  They are sneaky and pushy.  There is no concept of waiting for your turn.  We quickly learn how to say, sit down (Kachini), be quiet (Nyamasa) and no (Hapana) in Swahili. Until we have them memorized, we carry an index card in our pocket with these words written on it, our “cheat sheets”.   We take a picture of everyone in the morning class which we will print out tonight on a printer that I bought for just that purpose and glue each one on a composition book to give them tomorrow.  The afternoon class shows up and there are about 30-40 of them.   They are much calmer and better behaved than the morning group. We aren’t required to stay for the afternoon but we stay for a while and end our day with a stick of gum for each one.  I am tired but we both feel satisfied at how the first day went.  We are starting to fall in love.  We walk back through town stopping for lunch and supplies and go home to get ready for the next day.  Woke today to rain.  It is so wet and muddy that I am wondering if we will have school.  We decide not to bring the pictures today so have to quickly revise our lesson plan for the day (Monitor and Adjust….).  It is raining so hard that the staff decides to pile us into their vans and take us to our assignments.  The ride is exciting as we slip and slide along the dirt (mud) roads all the way there.  We get to class late but everyone is happy to see us.     We decided to mix things up a little bit and instead of writing math problems in order (ie; 1+1=2  1+2=3) we write random problems and find that they do pretty well. We mix up the alphabet cards and introduce shape flash cards.  Interesting to note that they called the “heart” – “I love you”.  Sang some songs (they knew Barney’s “I love you”) read a Dr. Suess book ("One fish, two fish..")  and handed out stickers. At the end of the day we took pictures of all of the students in the afternoon class.  We fall more in love…. There are people that live within the walls that surround the school.  There is a Grandmother and grandson, and a family of 5 that live in the back.  A single mother and her son live in the front.  I learn today that two of the older girls that seem to be helpers are sisters and have a younger sister in the morning class.  They are very helpful as they know some English and can help us communicate with the teacher whose English skills are minimal. Everyone wants his or her picture taken, it’s a very happy occasion.  We print their pictures out while we are there and everyone is amazed watching their picture come out of this little machine.  For most of them it is the first time they have seen a picture of themselves.  The rain stopped about noontime and the walk back into town was very muddy but passable.    Jeni and I parted ways after lunch and I went to a meeting on my Garden Project and she went to soccer (football) practice.  I met my team leader, Venceslous, (who Jeni and I call Claus in private) to discuss assisting an urban garden project.  The street hawkers constantly approach me as we are walking through town.  My usual “No thank you, No thank you. No thank you.” is not working.  Clause says that I am too nice to them and that I should say “Niachee” which means go away and leave me alone.  Learning Swahili has been interesting.  I learned a few words before I left home and have found, as in most parts of the world, the local population respond more warmly if you know a few words of their language.  We quickly learn “Jambo” for hello with the response being “Habari”. Then there is the more informal “Mambo” with “Poa” being the response. The staff at the house is very good at “drilling” us.  If you learn one phrase they will immediately teach you the next, full immersion language training.  On my way back to the house I take a moment and stop and it really sinks in - I am in Africa, how cool! Two girls in the small house are very sick and have been diagnosed with Malaria.  We become even more vigilant in our use of insect repellent and mosquito nets.  We are taking the composition books to school today.   Each book has been personalized with a picture of the student on the front and inside we have written, “My name is”.  We have Teacher Leah write each students name in each one when we arrive at school.  I have been looking forward to this moment. I brought a small printer with me so I could share pictures while I am here.  We hand out the books and the joy and amazement are contagious.  We have them practice writing and saying “My name is …” and then I go to each child in the class, one at a time, kneel down to their level, hold their hands and look in their eyes and have them say, My name is ….    It is a moment I will never forget.  It was a true moment of connection with the being inside of each child present.  For the afternoon class we have brought beads and yarn for each of them to make a bracelet.  We had intended to use them as a counting exercise but it was too fun so we just let them go at it.  Jeni and I were busy helping those that needed it and at one point I look up to see Teacher Leah and the other older girls making their own necklaces with no attention on the kids. It was super fun.  When we finished, I notice a street girl had wandered in to the classroom and that Teacher did not shoo her away as she usually does.  She had such haunting eyes, like those starving children you see on commercials.  We give her a handful of beads and a length of yarn and her face brightens into a beautiful smile.  As we leave, Teacher Leah grabs my backpack and walks us up the road.  She says, “Today is a very happy day”.  The people in the neighborhood are starting to recognize us.  Children greet us with “teacher, teacher” and the adults smile at us.  While we are walking along I see an old man sitting on the corner in his field of corn. In perfect English he says, “Take my picture”, which I do.  Then he asks, “When will you bring me the photo?”   I say, tomorrow.  He gets very excited and tells us his name is William, he shows me where he lives and I promise to bring him the photo the next day.   As we continue our walk into town we realize the street girl that we had given the beads to is following us.  We turn to her and she holds out her beads strung on the yarn and we realize that she needs help tying them on her wrist.  We help her with that and are thanked with another beautiful smile.  We continued into town to our coffee/internet shop for lunch and as we are eating we see this same girl peeking around the door from the street.  I am drawn to her. I wonder if she is hungry.  I buy her some food and take it to her.  She gives me a big hug.  It has been a very good day, one of connection and touching lives. It has been one of the best days of my life.    This afternoon I am off to see the urban garden project to see how we can help them.  My team leaders, Shelly and Venceslous, escort me during the 30-minute walk.  The garden is about ½ acre in size off of a side street in town.  They started as a tree nursery after receiving the land and seeds from the government.  They want to expand to the adjoining ½ acre and plant vegetables to assist in cash flow until the trees are old enough to sell.  A thick hedge surrounds the garden serving as their fence.  The first thing I notice is how shady it is.  The second thing I notice is how healthy the dirt looks and the large mulch pile off to one side.  The seedlings are very small and spindly from lack of sun but other than that everything looks healthy and neat.  I learn that they have virtually no tools and have hauled water in by hand to get to this point.  I am actually impressed by what they have created with no tools and no water.  We discuss what they think their needs are and promise to get back to them in a few days.  My thoughts go to Gerald and Mark and their reforesting projects, maybe I can bring them together. As we walk back to the house I am delighted to see Mt. Kilimanjaro clear of clouds for the first time since we arrived.  It is a very impressive mountain, very tall and very steep.  It is beautiful.   Get back to the house to learn that there are some “big wigs” from i-to-i  in town and that they are throwing a bar-b-que party for the volunteers tonight.  I have to hurry and get my things ready for the following day so I can join in the fun.   As I am printing out the pictures of the afternoon class, Heriel, the head of the volunteers in Moshi, stops to chat.  He is very interested in what we are doing and is asking for input.  I tell him of our experience so far.  As there is no education requirement for nursery school teachers, we talk about starting a class to teach the teachers.  He loves the idea and we work on putting this together while I am there. The printer fascinates him, he offers to buy it from me and I tell him I will be happy to donate it to them when we leave.  The bar-b-que is great fun.  The “caterer” kept telling everyone, “The chicken is fresh. Just slaughtered this morning”.  They cooked it rotisserie style and it was delicious. They also served potatoes with cheese and a cucumber and tomato salad. It is one of the best meals that I will have in Moshi.  It is nice to be able to socialize and get to know the other volunteers a little better.  We are all so busy during the day and so tired at night that there isn’t a lot of time to socialize.  I am impressed to find out how well traveled these young people are as they share stories of other exotic locations. I am introduced to the head of i-to-i, Bruce, who oversees 400 projects around the world.  He has heard about the work we are doing.  We have a fascinating conversation. I want his job. I wake the next morning not able to talk and feeling poorly.  Jeni says she can handle school on her own today (Monitor and Adjust) and I stay quiet for the morning, dosing myself with goldenseal and Vitamin C.  Around lunchtime I walk into town to do some research on the garden project and get back to the house around 4.  Jeni shows up with tears in her eyes and shares with me part of her day.  She handed out the personalized composition books to the afternoon class and they were a big hit again.  On the way back from school she stopped by William’s to give him his picture.  He was so happy to see her that he invited her into his home, introduced her to his extended family, wanted her to have tea with them and insisted she take some corn with her when she left.  A little ways further a mother came up to her to thank her for her work at the school and then later some of the kids from the school stopped her to hug her and say they love her.  She was overcome with emotion at how good it felt to be so appreciated, something she doesn’t often feel at home with her husband and two boys.  Heriel summoned us to his office this evening.  He makes all the travel arrangements for the volunteers and he had made ours for our upcoming weekend excursion to Zanzibar.  The Saturday flight had been canceled which meant that we would have to leave the next morning (Friday).  I was concerned about not going to class but I have to admit that the thought of a 3-day weekend was appealing. He assured me it would be ok to miss school and that they would get word to Teacher Leah.  So, I walked back to the house and we got ready for our weekend.  The first thing I did was to gather all of my dirty clothes together for Mama Koletta to wash while I am away.  She hand washes everything with a bucket and stone, hangs them to dry and irons them if necessary all for $2.50 a load.  I can’t believe how excited I am at the prospect of having clean clothes when I get back.

We get to Kilimanjaro airport to find that our flight has been delayed.  The air travel here is very unpredictable and delays and cancellations are the norm.  After an hour wait, we board the plane.  It is an hour flight to Zanzibar.    Zanzibar and its surrounding Islands are just off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. It is a very conservative, 99% Muslim area with a heavy Arab influence.  The main city, Stone Town has eons of history attached to it.  It served as one of the main ports during the slave trading days and was a major stop for spices in the years that followed.  Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, vanilla and coconut products are still major exports.  Our pre-arranged driver is waiting for us and takes us to our hotel. During our drive to the hotel I notice an “Obama 08” sign at the local park. We are staying at the Tembo Hotel, which was once an Arab Palace on the beach front in the old part of Stone Town.  It is quite an interesting hotel.  Lots of little courtyards, a beautiful sitting room with stained glass windows, and real antiques everywhere.  Our room is large and the best part is the big, deep bathtub.  After a short rest we take off to explore town.  The old part of Stone Town is a maze of little alleyways with tall, old buildings on either side.  The street hawkers are very aggressive and much more persistent than in Moshi.  There is a different feel here – not as friendly, more conservative, less welcoming.  We go back to the beach side restaurant at the hotel for a late lunch/early dinner of delicious seafood. The fish they call Kingfish tastes familiar – I learn later that it is Mahi Mahi.  We spent the evening in the room, taking long hot baths, primping and both of us phoned home for the first time since we left.  Woke early the next morning to take a quick walk around town hoping to miss the street hawkers, which I did.  Had a lovely stroll thru the alleyways taking pictures uninterrupted.  We had hired the driver from the day before to take us to Nungwi, at the North end of the Island where the resorts and pristine beaches are.  It is a beautiful drive and looks like what I imagine “old” Hawaii looked like.  Tall coconut trees, mango and other fruit trees, mud huts and blue skies. The only exception is that everyone is dressed in Muslim attire, colorful and flowing robes.  We have a very interesting (heated) discussion with the driver about politics.  Slamming Bush and interested in Obama! Arrived at the resort around 11 and it is breathtakingly beautiful.  The water is an amazing shade of blue and the sand is fine and so white – absolutely magnificent.  I am in the water within a few minutes and absolutely enjoy relaxing on the beach.  A woman comes by doing henna tattoos and we both get a small band on our wrist.  We have a fabulous lunch and after, I leave Jeni at the pool to go and explore.  The resort area is large and fenced and is surrounded by a very poor shantytown.  In every direction, as soon as I try to leave the resort I am gently escorted back in.  I reconnect with Jeni at the pool and find that neither of us want to leave.  We could stay here for the rest of our time in Africa but we must head back.  As we leave through the shantytown I wonder how these people feel about this big resort taking over their pristine beach.  I am sure that some people are probably happy for the employment that the resort provides, but they are fishermen by trade, they have been shut out from this amazing beach. I am reminded of the Hawaiian experience.  Our ride back to town is filled with discussions of Islam and our driver’s perception of America.  He says he knows all about America.  I ask him how he learned about it and he says from the movies.  I ask him which movie, he says “Rambo” and 50 cent videos.  No wonder we are not liked if this is the perception of America.  I try to persuade him that America is not really like what he sees portrayed in these films. I don’t think he was persuaded. We arrive back at the hotel late afternoon and I leave Jeni to rest and set out to do some shopping for trinkets to bring home.  We have a lovely dinner on the beach at the Livingston House next door that was actually Dr. Livingston’s (As in “Dr. Livingston I presume”) home.  There is a reggae party on the beach near the hotel, we can hear the music and had been invited by a young man that we had befriended the day before, but we don’t feel safe here and choose to stay in.  We enjoy a quiet morning.  Our room overlooks the beach where there is a soccer game going almost continually.  The fishing boats are called “Dhows” and are charming with their large triangle sails.  We hate to see our weekend end but as we leave to return to Moshi, we both feel like we are going “home”.  It took us 3 hours to get here but it takes us 8 hours to get home.  Our schedule called for a short layover and a change of planes in Dar Es Salaam, which is the main city and capital of Tanzania.  The airport there was an absolute nightmare but we did have a nice connection with some children waiting for their Dad to get off work.  We were drained by the time we got back to the house, but we are warmly greeted and found they had saved us some dinner.  And I had clean clothes!

It is glitter day at school today.  We start the day singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  We introduced a globe of the world and point out Africa, Tanzania, Moshi, America and Hawaii, which is no more than a dot in the middle of the ocean on the globe.  Not sure if they got it but it was a good try.  We then have them draw a star on a paper, helping those that need it.  Then we applied glue to their stars, put a palm full of glitter into their hands and let them put it on their stars.  By the time we were done there was glitter everywhere but we had fun.  When we arrived at school today there was a group of adults hanging around. I didn’t think much of it until later that night when I mentioned it to Shelly and she about fell off her chair.  Never had she heard of any parents showing up at school.  I think it was because of the pictures that had gone home the prior week.  I received two notes from school today.  I assumed they were thank you notes for the pictures but didn’t read them until after class.  I was surprised to see that they both were requests for money.  I was a little taken aback and was reminded of something my friend had told me after she had come home from Africa.  She said that we are teaching them to be beggars.  I didn’t really comprehend it when she said it but I do now.  I’ve already talked with Teacher Leah about the needs of the school, in addition to the new black board I have agreed to pay the tuition for the 10 orphans that are currently attending and English lessons for her, which she desperately needs.  She has agreed to attend the teaching classes that are being arranged.  I come to the perspective that “begging” and asking us for money is easy and probably effective.  They are doing the best they know how.   I am not sure that I would not do the same thing if I were in their shoes trying to keep food on the table and educate my children on an average annual income of $250 per year.  After lunch I hurried home so I could attend the on-going English classes for the Masai that are held every afternoon.  There are over 100 different tribes in Tanzania.  The Masai are typically nomads and lead a very interesting life – more on this later.  They do not speak Swahili and seem rather ostracized from the community.  They are known for being warriors and their statue is tall and imposing.  The class was great fun and I paired myself with a young man that seemed to be having a hard time keeping up.  We did the lesson plan for the day (Describing people) and then I asked him what words he wanted to learn.  After a few minutes of charades and listening really intently to what he was trying to say, I realized he wanted to learn “husband” and “wife”.  They were all quite happy and smiling and animated during class.  After class I asked if I could take a photo as they were all in their colorful wraps they call “kangas” and they immediately transformed into the stoic, warrior “identity” that they present to the world.  It was very interesting….. This morning I meet Jeni at her hut to walk to school.  She takes one look at me and says, “Mom, you have something yucky on your neck”.  She offers me her hand mirror and I quickly recognize this red, patchy, yucky “growth” as ringworm. I know how to treat it.  I shrug it off –we're in Africa.  I think about this later in the day and realize that I have not looked in the mirror since arriving at the volunteer house. I would have never gone out in public like this at home. I realize how much attention I usually have on my appearance and how it sometimes keeps me from truly connecting with people.  It is actually quite liberating to not be concerned with how I look.   Taught the kids a new song at school today, it is one we learned at the volunteer party last week.  It is a circle song and a new child is invited in to dance with each verse.  The song goes like this:  Sister/Brother ___________,  Sister/Brother ___________,  Sister/Brother ___________,  What a wonder you are.  I love you so, so, so Sister/Brother ___________, Sister/Brother ___________,  What a wonder you are.   It was very fun.  They so enjoyed the singing and dancing and the special recognition as they were each called in to the circle.   We brought out bubbles at the end of the day, which created great havoc but was also great fun. In the afternoon class we handed out reading/coloring books that had been donated.  After reading each of the books we gave each student several crayons and told them they could color in their books.  This was an entirely new concept for them as they had never had their very own book and are never allowed to color in books and have never had more than one crayon at a time.  They were completely immersed in their work and the afternoon flew by.  I have started making a point of connecting with each child each day. We have learned how to say, I love my students (Na wa penda wa toe toe).  Everyday, at the end of class I go to the end of each bench, kneel down and say it to them.  They all reach out to me. We connect and hug.  It is a very special moment of the day for me. Stopped by the internet café at lunch and sent an email out to the Slippers of Aloha group.  Also finished up the outline for the garden project. I-to-i  has never done any projects like this and Shelly is having me put together an outline for the whole program.  I have lots of questions about the current project, I am concerned about the marketability of their trees and vegetables.  I finish the outline and my questions and give it to Venceslous to give to them before we meet later in the week.  It’s hard to believe that our time in Moshi is almost over.  It went by way too fast.  It took a week to get acclimated and over jet lag and now we only have a few days left!  I am already sad to be leaving.  We have totally fallen in love with the kids.  It is painting day at school today.  We arrived to find the class very full – counted 70 kids.  The benches are stuffed full and there is overflow in the courtyard.   Did some color and shape flash cards, read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?", which they loved and then brought out the paints.  There are so many that we decide to finger paint as we don’t have enough paintbrushes for all of them (Monitor and Adjust).  We pass out paper to each one, put three dollops of paint on each paper and have to show them what to do.  They never had finger painted before.  They all had fun but several of them were inconsolable about getting paint on their clothes.  Cleaned them up the best we could with a bucket of water and a towel. I had a meeting with Mr. Lymio and the caregivers for the orphans at the school today as part of the Slippers of Aloha money will go to their school tuition.  He spoke to them first and then called me in.   To me, it felt like they were being interrogated as Mr. Lymio is very strict and rigid and had been grilling them on their neediness.  He introduced me to them, telling me a little about each family.  The majority are single mothers with children of their own to care for.  He asked me if I had any questions for them and I asked him to tell them that I think that they are heroes and that I honor them for opening up their hearts and homes to take these children in. I continued, that I am honored to help these children with tuition for school.  As soon as the words were out of his mouth you could feel the weight being lifted off of their collective shoulders.  They all smiled for the first time during the meeting, clapped their hands and one by one gave me a warm hug.  I was an amazing moment and brought tears to my eyes.  I asked them if they had any questions for me. They wanted to know how old I was? How many children I had? How many grandchildren?  I had brought some pictures with me from Hawaii and showed them to them.  They all thanked me over and over again before leaving.   Mr. Lymio handed me a big stack of papers that needed to be completed and we took a picture of each one of the children that we will be helping.  The money goes directly to the school and everything is very closely monitored.  I realized that one of the young girls (Nasra) that had really captured my heart was one of the orphans.  I decided to commit to seeing her through secondary school.  It feels right and good. For the afternoon class we had brought a large roll of paper with PEACE and a peace sign written on it.  We had them all take turns painting and then we hung it up and took their picture under it.  It is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.     Stopped in town for a quick lunch then walked quickly back to the house as we had arranged for a driver to take us to the orphanage with the slippers and T-shirts and books that we had brought with us.  It was a about a 30-minute drive mostly down a long dirt road.  We are warmly welcomed.  The orphanage is a cluster of buildings in various states of disrepair.  There are 70+ children here at the moment ranging from infants to 18 year olds that have been here their whole life.  The volunteers that are assigned here are in process of painting the living areas so we take our suitcase of goodies to the schoolroom to hand them out.  A young woman, Madonna, with a very sweet spirit helps me to hand out the slippers.  I learn later that she is “Mamas” daughter.  The children wait patiently for their turn to be sized for slippers.  They were so well behaved.  No pushing or shoving, no wanting more, just sweet, innocent beings.  They all said “thank you” as they received their new shoes  and afterwards willingly sat and visited with us.  I am surprised at how many teenagers there are.  For some reason, I expected mostly young children.  I meet two very bright older girls (17 and 18) that have lived here all of their lives and have recently had to drop out of school because there simply isn’t the $600 per year that they need for tuition to continue their education.  I meet “Baby Ruth”, she has just arrived the day before, she is about two years old and one of the most beautiful girls that I have ever seen.  She seems a bit lost and willingly comes into my arms.   I make sure and connect with each one of them and it still brings me to tears thinking about them.   The woman that runs the orphanage, Mama, is an amazing being.  She is one of those people that radiate grace and peace and love. I am sure that she is blessed.  She says that, it is by the grace of God, and through generous donations that she has kept this orphanage going over the last 30 years.  We talk about her garden and I give her some of the packets of seeds that I have brought with me. There is so much need here that our donation of slippers and T-shirts seem rather insignificant.  I mention this to Madonna and she stops me and looks me in the eyes and tells me that it is not insignificant, it is very much appreciated and that we have made a difference.  I try not to cry….  It was an amazing experience. I vow to never forget them. Our driver drops us off in town so we can get supplies for tomorrow.  I am overwhelmed by the orphanage experience and begin to cry.  People on the street are concerned.  They ask, “Mama, are you ok?  Why are you crying?”  I am touched by their concern and shove down the tears and emotion.  So much is needed at the orphanage, how do you decide where to start? What is most important?  Back at the house I talk to the volunteers that have been working there and to Shelly about it.  I walk away with the knowing that education is the best thing we can offer to these children.  I vow to raise money when I get home for this purpose. Spent the night doing the paperwork for the tuition payments for the orphans at the school and getting ready for our last day of school tomorrow.   I am emotionally drained.  We are not doing any work at school today – we are having a party!  We bring cookies and candies and a small toy for each child.  As we turn the last corner to our school, we see some of the children out in the street and they come running to us.  Both the morning and afternoon class is there, over 100 kids in all.  Teacher Leah is all dressed up, there is a festive mood.  We started the day with the “Sister, Sister” song.  One little boy in particular was a great little dancer, we all had fun.  At one point, I look over at Jeni and she is radiating joy, it made my heart soar.  We passed out cookies after our song and dance.  It was interesting that almost all of them ate one and put the second one in their pocket.  We passed out the toys we had brought after that and that created an absolute uproar.  They practically mobbed us. We tried to make them all sit before getting a toy but there was too much excitement.  Everyone was happy.  Mr. Lymio stopped by to finalize the donations and made them all calm down and sit quietly.  They all sat in their seats with their finger to their lips as in “Shh”. He spoke to the class in Swahili, I think he was reminding them of all the things we had done for them as I pick up a few words, pictures, blackboard, etc.  When he was done they sang a song of thanks and both Jeni and I had trouble holding back our tears. It was time to say good-bye and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  We hugged each and every one of them as they left.  I will never forget them…. After the kids left I handed out cards and personal donations to some of the people that lived there.  Grandma had asked for help with the tuition payment for her grandson, Abraham, which I gave her.  Baby Rose’s family had asked for help too and I was able to help them.  They were all so thankful.  As we left Baby Rose’s mother grabbed my back-pack and walked us up the street, thanking us over and over again, all of us were in tears.  I was emotionally drained but after lunch I had my last meeting on the garden project.  We met with the head of the group and had a great meeting. They answered all of my questions and were thrilled with the technical assistance that I had found for them over the internet.  I left them the rest of the seed packets that I had brought and promised them that I would be providing funding for them to buy some basic tools.    I hurried back to the house, as we are all going out to dinner for our last night here.  Of all places, we will be going to a Chinese restaurant.  We had a great dinner and it was nice to unwind and connect with the other volunteers.  It is our last day in Moshi and I can’t believe how fast the time went.  I wake in time to go into the big house for breakfast and to say good-bye to everyone.  There are lots of hugs and tears and promises to keep in touch.  After everyone left I am amazed at how quiet the house is.  I had never been home during the day.   I finish my final write up on the garden project and finish packing and Jeni and I take a cab to town for a quick lunch before we meet up with the driver that will be taking us to Arusha, which is about an hours drive away.  After lunch, back at the house, we gather our luggage, hand out thank you notes and tips to the staff and wait in the front of the house for our driver.  Mama Koletta and Hadija (the staff) wait with us and they cry the whole time.  It was a very emotional good-bye. I feel really good about the time we spent here.  I worked hard, did everything I came here to do, I touched some lives, made a difference.  It feels good.

Arusha and Safari

Our ride to Arusha is uneventful.  We are both a bit quiet and weepy.  The scenery becomes more green and lush as we rise in elevation towards Arusha.  We pass miles of beautiful, healthy looking, coffee orchards.  The houses get bigger, the traffic heavier.  We arrive at our hotel around 5pm.  We immediately send our clothes off to be washed so we can start our safari with clean clothes.  Again, we are excited with the prospect of having clean clothes and a hot bath.  We both eat an extra large dinner at the buffet in the hotel restaurant and are to bed early.  Today is our first day of safari – we meet in the lobby at 8am.  We will be traveling with Dee, a lady about my age that just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and our guide, Joseph.  Our first stop is Lake Manyara, about an hours drive away.  During the drive, the landscape slowly changes from lush and green to dry and sparse.  The way is dotted with Masai villages, huts made from cow dung and young boys in colorful kangas herding their cows and goats.  The government of Tanzania is very serious about protecting their natural wonders.  There are many National Parks and Conservation areas.  The roads to these areas are well-maintained paved highways. The interior roads are hard packed dirt.  No one is allowed off the roads and no one is allowed out of the vehicles except in established rest areas.  There is no rubbish anywhere to be seen.  A sign at one of the parks reads:  “Remove nothing from the park except: Nourishment for the soul:  Consolation for the heart: Inspiration for the mind."   Lake Manyara is a National Park known for its bird life.  It has one of the highest concentrations of flamingos in the world.  Within a few minutes of entering the park our guide, Joseph, spots a Black Mambo sunning itself on the side of the road.  He comments how rare it is to see one.  A short distance later, we see a group of giraffes, eating from the tops of acacia trees that look a lot like kiawe trees.  I am enchanted with them. They are so graceful and elegant.  I am so content at seeing them that I think to myself, that I would be fine if we don’t see another thing.  We continue the drive amongst zebra and impalas and monkeys. The lake comes into view and almost looks like a mirage ringed in pink from the thousands of flamingos lining its shore.  After a short stop for a picnic lunch we are back in the car.  In just a few minutes we spot a lion laying a distance away in the shade, Jo comments that it is rare to see lions here.  Another short drive and we are treated to a group of elephants so close to the car that I can’t use my zoom lens to photograph them.  One lone male is throwing dust from an old termite hill onto himself to kill the ticks.  He is so close I can almost touch him.  We stay and watch him for a while and he puts on quite a show. As we leave he starts to follow us and then charges the jeep coming in the opposite direction as it gets between us.  I think he liked us…. Within just a few minutes we come upon a group of baboons on the side of the road.  We enjoy watching them as they chase each other, the older ones scolding the young ones and the babies riding on the mother’s back.  As we are watching, we notice many baboons coming out of the trees a short distance away.  They are coming toward us and they keep coming and coming and coming until literally hundreds of baboons surround us.  I feel honored and am in awe.  We move on to the hippo ponds and see more lions and monkeys all at a distance.  We arrive at our lodge just before sunset.  We are greeted with washcloths to wipe off some dust and a glass of juice.  While we are checking in we are told that electricity is on from 6 to 12 and hot water from 7 to 10.  I had never heard anything like that before but, we are in the middle of no-where.  After checking in, we shower and head to dinner which is quite a lavish buffet.  There is local entertainment at dinner, which is the first authentic African music that I have heard.  The only music that I heard in Moshi was from the music stores in town which blasts rap and American hip hop.  After dinner the musicians put on a great show on the patio.  The dancing is very energetic, primal and sensual. I wake in the morning and we have coffee on the lanai in front of our room, which is bordered by plumeria and bougainvillea.  We are headed to the Serengeti today.  We drive around the rim of the Ngorogoro Crater Conservation area, which is about 7000 feet in elevation on a narrow, windy road.  It is very foggy.  As we descend from the rim the landscape becomes drier and more barren.  I am surprised to see Ostrich there.  After several hours of driving we stop at a Masai Village for a tour. We are warmly greeted with the men on one side of the entrance and the women lined up on the other.   Their clothing is very colorful, they are adorned in their lavish beaded jewelry.  They are singing and doing their traditional “jumping” dance.  They encourage us to join them, placing their wide beaded necklaces over our heads and bringing us into their circle.  A young man that speaks very good English greets us and tells us that he will be our guide.  He takes us into one of their huts that is made of acacia branches and cow dung.  The Masai are nomads and they only stay in one place for about a year.  The hut is very small and there is a fire burning in the middle creating a very smoky atmosphere.  We sit and talk and he tells us about their culture.  They can have up to 10 wives.  Each wife gets her own hut.  Basically the women do all the work and get no say.  Everything is done as a community.  Food and “money” is shared by all. The community is “ruled” by a group of elders whose decisions are final.  He went on to say that he had literally been taken off of the side of the road at the age of 7 and taken to a government school.  When he returned, the elders chose him to be a guide because of his English skills.  Then he asked me a question I will never forget -  “Will Obama win the election?”  Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be in the middle of the Africa, sitting in a cow dung hut, talking politics.  It was definitely an interesting moment. When we left we headed off-road across the open plains.  We ended up at Oldapai Gorge where the Leaky family has made many fascinating discoveries.  We spent about an hour there, toured their small museum and had lunch while listening to a lecture.  Headed off for the Serengeti, which was still a 5-hour drive away.  We drove for hours and hours through nothing but flat, dry grasslands. On our way we made a quick stop at a watering hole where we found a large male lion about 20 feet away, sleeping and completely unperturbed by our presence.  We continued our hot dusty drive for many more hours passing antelope and migrating zebra and wildebeests.  It was a very long day of driving and we were all happy to arrive at the lodge. The lodge is literally built into a rock out cropping.  One large boulder actually serves as the wall in the dining area.  It was reminiscent of a Frank Lloyd Wright design and had fabulous views of the Serengeti. Again, we were told electricity is on from 6 to 12 and hot water from 7 to 10, so funny.  Invited Joe, our guide, to join us for dinner and enjoyed learning more about him and his life.  Joseph was a biology teacher in the past, which explained his vast knowledge of the animals and plants that we were seeing.  He has four children and we learned that custom dictates that the first-born child is given to the father’s parents to raise and then that child assists the grandparents when they are grown.  The second born is given to the mother’s parents to raise.  In the past only the sons had rights of inheritance but he informed his children that it would be different for them and all of them would inherit equally. It was a delightful dinner and when it was done we all retired to our beds after a long day of driving.  Woke up early and watched the sunrise over the Serengeti – how cool.  Jeni decided to stay at the hotel for the morning game drive so I set off with Dee and Joe.  The annual migration of wildebeests and zebras take place at this time of year and we see long lines of animals in the distance for as far as the eye can see.  I am very struck by the vastness of the Serengeti.  It is very isolated and detached from the world.  No phones, no TV or radio, no internet.  The world could have gone to hell and we would have never known.  The jeep we were traveling in allows us to stand up with our heads out the top. That vantage point allows me to feel so much more connected with the land. We arrive at a watering hole that looks like a small oasis in this dry acacia woodland. We see zebra and wildebeests lined up the hill as far as we can see waiting to come down for a drink.  We turn off the engine and Jo tells us to be quiet. These animals have a very symbiotic relationship and often travel together.  The zebras have good eyesight and poor hearing. The wildebeest have good hearing and poor eyesight.  Wildebeest eat the short grasses and zebra eat the tall grass so it is a wonderful relationship for both of them. We wait quietly for about 10 minutes.  There appears to be two zebras at the front of the line directing everything.  They raise their heads and give out a call and the entire line begins their decent to the water.  They enter the water a little ways down river of us and after they drink they cross the river and come up the bank and into the field that we are parked in.  Animal after animal comes in, drinks and then moves on until we are entirely encircled by literally thousands of wildebeests and zebras. The noises they made still ring in my ears as I write this.  To see the animals at a distance is exciting but to be encircled by them and literally become part of this eons old ritual is entirely another story. It is hard to describe how it felt.  I lost all track of time. I felt at one with all creation. It was a spiritual experience.  It was humbling. It was a reminder that every living thing plays an important part in this shared creation.  All I could say at the time was, “this is so amazing”, over and over again.  We returned to the Lodge for lunch and to pick up Jeni for the afternoon game drive.   A short drive up the road Jeni spots two young male lions lying under a tree with their kill, a cape buffalo.  They had eaten their fill and were guarding it.  Continuing our drive we see a mother and two young hyenas. We arrive at a large hippo pool and find them much more active then the ones we had seen the day before.  Hippos are nocturnal so they frequently appear to be nothing more than large lumps in the water during the day.  This pool was very full and they seemed to be jockeying for position.  One male was quite aggressive and it was quite impressive to witness his strength and power.  As we leave the hippos, I mention to Joe that we haven’t seen a cheetah yet and that if he finds one I will give him an extra tip.  The guides use two-way radio to communicate with each other and after a short chat with another guide he starts speeding down the dusty, bumping road.  He had never driven that fast before and I suspected that I was about to see my cheetah.  We see a group of safari vehicles on the side road ahead of us, and Joe says, “Get your money ready”. There he is, a magnificent cheetah.  He is quite a distance away, no more than a spot in the grass to the naked eye but with the zoom lens on my camera he is magnificent.  He’s eyeing two gazelle grazing a short distance away.   We wait and watch, wondering if he will go for the gazelle but decide to leave as the sun slips towards the horizon.   Arrive at our new lodge, have a shower and dinner and go to bed still in awe and amazed at the events of the day.  Woke the next morning to strange noises outside our window.  Pulled the curtains back to find a group of black faced monkeys sitting on the banister trying to get in our window.  We opened the window to shoo them away but they come towards us, determined to get into our room.  Again, I am amazed at how the animals are not afraid of us.   Downstairs at breakfast we run into one of the staff members with an Obama button.  Here in the middle of nowhere, an nine hour drive to the nearest city and we find an Obama supporter. It is our final day on the Serengeti.  We head out and quickly come across a herd of elephants with babies at their side, so cute.  A short distance further we see a mother lion and two cubs feasting on a recent kill.  One of the cubs is quite aggressive, trying to take the food out of the mother’s mouth, she is loudly teaching him some manners.  Jeni comments, this must be our day for babies.  Within a few minutes we spot a lone female lion very close to the side of the road.  She is magnificent, regal and proud.  Her attention is on something behind us and very soon Joseph is backing up 100 feet or so.   When we stop we are treated to two female lions with eight cubs laying in a drainage-ditch not more than 10 feet from the car.  We are thrilled and snap picture after picture.  One of the females gets up and starts moving towards us.  Although she does not appear aggressive, we all go on alert.  Jeni ducks her head back in the car, I roll up the side window.  When she reaches the side of the car she plops down in the small sliver of shade that the car is providing.  We could have reached out and touched her but we settle for more photos.  It was an amazing moment and it provided one of my favorite photos from the trip.  We move on a short distance away we see three male lions and one female, very close to the road.  Joseph explained that she is probably coming into heat and that is why there were so many males surrounding her.  It was very sweet. They were courting her, rubbing up against her, nuzzling her face.   Back on the road, and again only a few minutes away we spot a regal male lion sleeping on the top of a rock outcropping.  We decide to call him Simba (the Swahili word for lion), he is the epitome of the “king of the jungle”.  We head out of the Serengeti mid morning as we have a long day of travel.  Tonight we will be at staying on the rim of the Ngorogoro Crater, said to have the largest concentration of wildlife of anywhere on earth.  We have booked a room at the Sopa Lodge, splurging on a “luxury” lodge for our last night.  We travel back through Masai land and begin our ascent to the Crater Rim, which rises to 7000 feet above the plains.  It grows greener and greener, Jeni comments that it looks like the drive to Hilo.  The road is narrow and windy, in some places I see that there is only 10 feet or so on either side of the road before a steep cliff.  We arrive at the lodge late in the afternoon, it is beautiful and quite cool.  The rooms are large and the view is magnificent.  We all have dinner together and I am happy to find the bed soft and cozy.  Today we explore the Crater.  I have been up before sunrise practically every day since I have been here, today, I want to stay in this nice cozy bed till the last possible moment. The drive into the crater is amazing.  So expansive, so vast, so incredible.  The crater walls are steep, the bottom of the crater vast. There is an alkaline lake in the center with a ring of salt around it showing how far the water level has dropped since the rainy season.  The animals cannot drink from the lake although there is bird life on the edges.  There are small springs and streams that run year-round and this is where the animals drink.  The crater is much busier than the Serengeti.  We pass lots of other safari vehicles and there is a crowd at every sighting.  We see Cape Buffalo, Wart Hogs (which always remind me of the Lion King), hyenas, hippos in oasis like settings and the ever-present migrating zebra and wildebeest.    Stopped for lunch at a rest area where a monkey was being very persistent in getting at our food, jumping on the car, trying to sneak up and grab food from our plates.  We are told not to feed him as it only encourages bad behavior.  A Japanese couple pull up and the man is filming the monkey’s antics.  The woman goes to the car and gets some food to feed him. She throws a piece of food on the ground in front of her, which he eats and then runs to her to get more.  She panics and runs to the car and doesn’t come out again. We leave the Crater by way of a very steep, windy road and make our way back to Arusha arriving late afternoon. Arusha is a much larger town, complete with traffic jams and the ever-present street hawkers.  On our last day in Africa, we finally figure out how to handle them.  If we use the more slang greeting “Mambo” and the response of “Poa” they assume we are not new here.  When they ask, “Where are you from?” We reply “Moshi”, they leave us alone.  We have two days here before heading home.  We check out the Natural History Museum, meet someone from the Big Island.  We shop, have our clothes washed, take hot baths. Our trip home is very long – flight delays lengthen our travel time to 40 hours.  I spend a few days in California before coming home.  It takes me weeks to become fully present here.  I think I left part of my being in Africa.  We vow to return some day….