Day 11

The past couple days have been filled with finally catching up on sleep and exploring the area a little more. On Saturday afternoon, two other girls and I went to the craft market which is a short walk down the street from our apartments. To tell you the truth I was very overwhelmed by the market because I was not planning on buying anything that day but it broke my heart saying no to all of the artisans who had such beautiful work. My favorite piece of the day HAD TO BE the Barack Obama themed kanga (pretty much a big piece of cloth used either as a wrap/skirt or used to make clothing). His face was on there and everything. I'll be going back to that kiosk to buy that soon! Side note: Barack Obama is EVERYWHERE! When people ask you where you are from and you say America, 9 out of 10 people will say "Oh, Obama!!!" or "Obama-land!" I saw a HUGE mural with the president's face today that was on the side of a building. I'll try to be better about taking photos so I can capture the Obamafever here in Tanzania.

Today started week 2 of classes. Instead of having our usual 8 hours of class today we just had 4 in the morning (Kiswahili) and then Roland and Friday (the program directors) took us to two NGOs in the area. The first was Shanga which employs disabled workers to be artisans, making beads, necklaces, aluminum molds, pretty much everything you can think of. We had lunch on the Shanga property which was the most amazing food I have had in a long time!!! It didn't hurt that the property looks pretty much was I imagine paradise to look like. Oh, and I saw monkeys! The second NGO was the Massai Women's Development Organization which works to empower Massai women in the area in the areas of education, economic independence, and health.

I'm really looking forward to finding somewhere to volunteer for the semester because I have a couple months to really create a relationship with a community.

Tomorrow is back to the grind of 8 hours of class.... only 4 more days of this until a normal schedule starts.

utaonana baadaye