But more on that later!
This past week we spent all of our time at ISM. We had a wonderful time with the students because they are all so enthusiastic and willing to take risks. The teachers were just the same, and
participated in classes as much at students did.
Wednesday after school AAI took a dunk in ISM’s ice tank, I
mean pool. It was frigid, but a
good break from the sun we had been working in all day. After that, Eanna, the principal of
ISM’s Arusha Campus, had AAI over for pizza and beer. He pulled out of the ISM parking lot and suddenly drove down
a steep dirt path. Turns out he
lives just on the opposite side of the bushes from ISM, along with several
other teachers. Eanna’s neighbors
and the nine of us spent the evening chatting and watching the sunset with
Mount Maru in the background.
Eanna was so welcoming and made us feel very at home.
Thursday was mostly spent preparing for our collaborative
show on Friday. All day we
reviewed the student pieces with them, and then spent the afternoon teching our
own pieces for the performance.
All of this hard work paid off, however, because the show went very
well. After an introduction from
Eanna, the students performed the prologue of Romeo & Juliet, and sang two
songs. The AAI performed a total
of eight pieces, several from each division, followed by a dance finale
performed by ISM Students to Mary J. Blige’s ‘Fine.’ They did a fine job indeed, and made us very proud. Our experience at ISM ended with a
beautiful thank you from all of the students, including flowers, ISM shirts,
and traditional African bags for all of the AAI members.
In addition to all of the love we received, ISM really
helped us out financially. They
gave us a set amount for our work over the week, gave us the proceeds from the
performance tickets, as agreed, and surprised us by giving us all of the
proceeds from the reception after the performance. We really could not have finagled a better deal out of them.
Our program was entitled “START,” and
we can only hope that it really was the start of something great for both
parties.
Saturday we started the morning off with a good ol’ AAI
meeting, which we have almost everyday.
In the afternoon most of us went to the dress rehearsal for a show that
the local Suzuki based music program is having next week. It was at Shanga, the place we went last
weekend. We met some of the
administrators and instructors from this Suzuki program at ISM and they invited
us to their dress rehearsal since we are busy during their actual performance. Once we arrived to Shanga, Molly, my
classmate, and I spent almost a half an hour trying to take pictures of the
monkeys that were bouncing from tree to tree. Once the rehearsal really got goin’ we stayed until far past
sunset. It was a little hard to
concentrate, however, because the monkeys sat above us eyeing our food the
whole time.
Today, most of us spent an entire day at the Karibu
Fair. Quiz: Who can tell me what
Karibu means?!?!?! The fair was filled with stands from airlines, international
schools, safari companies, and lodge owners. We split up the group and headed to as many stands as
possible. My group was in charge
of making contact with international schools all over East Africa to try and
find new places to host our workshops.
Some of the school were very interested, and would even be able to
provide housing when/if we teach there.
It is really exciting to meet people who are excited about our project
and want to bring a larger arts curriculum to their schools. After all the work was done was when
the camel rides happened. There
was an option to ride in a helicopter for 60,000 tsh (about $40), but there was
no way I was going to spend that kind of money! Instead I spent 2,000tsh ($1.50) to ride on a camel’s back
around the fair grounds. Twas
quite an experience, and although I didn’t get a picture, I will remember it
forever.
Tomorrow we start a two-week workshop at the Umoja Youth
Empowerment Center. This center is
for people aged 15-30 that were knocked out of the government run school
system. At Umoja they learn
vocational skills, English, and Math.
There will be a bigger language barrier at this facility, but we are
getting Swahili lessons in the mornings, so that should help.
I feel like there are so many little things that happen everyday
that are exciting and fun, but do not come to my mind when writing this blog. Today we were on the side of the road trying to get on a DalaDala, when a van of Mzungus offered us a ride to the fair instead. Yea yea, Dad, I know what you are thinking. We got in anyway, and held our door locks up the entire ride just in case. They got us to the fair safe and sound, but it was still a bit of a risk. We have learned here that if a car does not have a white license plate then it is not a real taxi. We have ridden in four taxis now and we have gotten a phone number for each one. We have a favorite taxi driver named Freddy who has a large car that can cart us all around. No matter where we are, how late is it, or how many of us there are, we can usually call Freddy to get a ride. He doesn't really speak English, but we have been able to communicate for the most part.
Other than our little transportation adventures things been been fairly calm. Today I learned how to say, "I am a human." I plan to say it next time a little kid points to me and says, "Mzungu!!" My response could either make someone think twice before saying "Mzungu" again, or get me a nice black eye. We shall see!
Will write again at the end of this week!
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