Tuesday, March 1, 2011



So, these are backwards from the order that I took them. So I recommend starting from the bottom and scrolling up! Just going to do some captions for now. Ran the Kilimanjaro Marathon on Sunday! It was so great! Clouds were rolling in and out so it wasn't too hot, but we were still able to see the mountain the majority of the time. It was a tough one because it was all on asphalt and I have been training on dirt the entire time. At mile nine, my feet and knees were already saying, "Alright, that's enough already!" We had a good group of people up for the event so it was fun to see everyone again. Four of us did the full, about eight or so did the half, and everyone else ran the fun run (5K). We had a great time, rested up a bit, and then went out dancing that night! Moshi is great! I feel like I'm getting a little taste of America! Literally-great food (had a delicious iced latte with freshly ground coffee!!!!) , went to a movie theatre, skyped with my family, hot showers, and there were lots of white people here for the event. The winner (a Kenyan suprisingly!!!) finished in 2 hours and 20 minutes. That is ridiculous! So my villagers will be quite disappointed in my since there were sure I was going to take first place. And if not first, at least second or third! You will bring home a medal! I suppose I could just go with it, since they gave all the finishers a medal!!!! Enjoy the pics!!! Headed back to stay in the village for a whole month. It has yet to be done. That may seem crazy, but I even consider trips to Mpwapwa to get produce or PB leaving my village and I am going for the full month. We'll see how it goes. There is just always something going on though. Won't be able to have any communication so...until then!
Cheers!
After the waterfall, we decided to try the local brew. It is made from a grain (didn't catch the name, but in my village they make it out of corn or millet) It was nasty. The gourds were cool enough to make us want to drink it, but we had a tough time choking it down. And they gave us two huge gourds. There was a group of men sitting there enjoying theres while we laughed and laughed at each other trying to get it down!
This is my friend Duncan standing under. We eventually all swam over and sat under there and had another guy take a picture, but unfortunately I don't have those pictures yet.
Waterfall in Moshi. Day after the marathon, felt so good and refreshing!
Another village picture just to demonstrate the difference. It's nuts. My village is beautiful right now!
This is the flower on one of the trees, now that we have some water and some color in the village. I put some in my hair one day and immediately got, "umependeza sana" (you look very nice)

Our first attempt at making wine. Pineapple/Mango. It turned out a bit more strong than we had intended. And neither of us really drink, so 10 L could take a bit to get down!!!

Katie made juice from passionfruit to have with our pancakes! We eat a bit better when we're we in town too!
This is us, at Claires house, trying to watch a movie on her computer. The mosquitos were so bad that we sat underneath the mosquito net while we watched. We have some good movie nights-almost always chick flicks! Not sure why we torture ourselves that way!
This is the view overlooking Mpwapwa. It's a good little climb straight up a small hill to get there. This is me, Claire, and Katie P. Claire is from Scotland, in her second year with VSO, working as a volunteer teaching at the teacher's college in Mpwapwa! She's great! We love her! We stay at here house when we go into town-running water and electricity! Katie is another environment PCV who lives in the opposite direction from me, out of Mpwapwa. I feel so lucky to have her!

These are the students of the Biology club, doing a dance performance to some local music. They were great! I was pretty proud! Our first performance of the year!
The 2 students in the middle are playing the traditional drums and then others came and danced in circles around them. You can see those on the left-it wouldn't really be appropriate at home, to do this in front of your teachers, but here, that's the traditional dancing and it's totally normal. Entertaining.

Oh, and some acrobats!!!
These are the majority of the students at the secondary school, sitting in the shade under the tree to watch the "welcome Form 1 celebration" There was singing, dancing, music, skits. It was pretty fun.

This is my water catchment system. It's working pretty nicely and there is currently a lot of water in there!!
My papaya tree. I've got lots of little buds! I actually like the papaya here so I'm pretty excited!
This is my newly improved choo (toilet). So you turn with your butt facing that back wall, step on the little ledge, and pop a squat!! I am actually completely used to and maybe starting to prefer the position! I know, crazy!
Short tour of my house again-new additions! This is the shelf in my kitchen. Other than this I just have my little kerosene stove and my charcoal stove and my water buckets on the floor. Just sit on a small little stool to cook.
I can make some good bread here-in a pot! Pretty cool! Whole wheat even!
This is me with my neighbor, Foibe, on the right, and her friend.
This is a picture in my village now. Totally different from the first pictures I sent. The new profile picture is the same view of my house-but green! You can see, this is a perfect example of a canal running through the village. When it rains, water flows through like a river. An hour later-nothin'
This is Ally washing his clothes while it was pouring rain. You can see the water puddling up pretty bad on the ground.
So beautiful! Amazing runs! (though quite difficult because the road had some extreme ups and downs)
This is Mbeya. I went and stayed with a friend in her village. I felt like I was in the countryside in Italy somewhere.
Pretty proud of this one!
View of Iringa from atop a really big rock. We went up at sunset and had a bottle of wine, some crackers and cheese. It was a little piece of paradise.
These mamas are sorting their greens and putting them out for sale. Before cooking them here, they take the stem and pull off the fiber. I don't really understand it at all. When I am alone, I just cut the stems off. Shhh.
This is the outside of the market. You can see the mangoes. Under each umbrella they are selling something different.
Street in Iringa. It is a beautiful town, much of which is built in the hills. Made for some beautiful runs!
This is just all sorts of spices. Garlic hanging from the bottom of the table.
This is inside the market, the produce section. It was a huge one, in Iringa, so there was so much food!!! Man I wish I had a market like this closer to me.
This is at the market. Selling brooms, charcoal stoves, baskets, utensils, etc. And lots of it!
Is this not precious?! They are having their afternoon uji! I even got to feed a couple of the younger ones.
Me and Sefe at the orphanage in Katie's village. I wish we had an orphanage near me. There were around 15 babies/toddlers. It was very overwhelming and sad, but they are living in a much better environment.
Yeah, so like I said before, fireplace in the home is not normal. Katie has a really great house. It was actually cold in Iringa, which was hard to believe, but it was so nice to cozy up to the fire.
Christmas Eve table setting-well floor setting! But it was wonderful! We sat on cushions, had candles, and delicious food!

4 comments:

  1. Wow! A marathon on pavement?!?!?!? You are amazing!! I loved reading your post and seeing the pictures! Life is so different over there and it makes me realize all the things I take for granted every day! Like not having to use a mosquito net to watch a movie. You seem to be doing so well! The people in your village are lucky to have you! I miss you girl!

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  2. I love your updates and the photos are great! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. We think of you often, Randi.
    Love,
    Carolyn & Dale

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  3. I enjoyed reading your blog. You made me feel like I was there with you. What great experiences you are having and what an impact you are making for others. We have so much in America, its great to see pictures of people living on so little to remind us and humble us. Take care Randi.
    Love
    Velma

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  4. Hey Randi!
    It was wonderful getting to chat, even if it was just for a bit, on Tuesday. Haven't been to the blog in a while, but WOW! Awesome pictures. I really like the one that you claim to be proud of, but they are all great! I want to run in those Italian like fields! What a serene experience... The tranquility of that place would make me want to run forever! (Now how far I would get is another thing...=) ) I think I laughed a bit out loud when you talked of drinking the brew that was nasty. Haha. Looked fun to drink out of the gourds though.

    Thank you for the photos and update. You are doing amazing things lady!

    Gary

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