Thoughts from the Steven Tito Academy's new volunteer

And so continues my adventure at Baobob.

I finally was given the chance to take over the classroom with my fellow volunteer Laura. We were excited to plan a full day of English activities, art, and games. But also a little nervous. 13 kids didn't seem like too many, right? How chaotic could it get??? Welll......our first day in the classroom, after several failed attempts at controlled chaos went...chaotic. The kids were still in full holiday swing and the idea of creating paper mache balloons ended up as a floury salty mess. I went home discouraged, annoyed that my first da y as a volunteer hadn't gone as perfectly as I had wanted.

But never say never! We went back to the drawing board with the lesson plans, agreed that splitting up the groups would be the best, and attempted once more. And to our delight, the day went much, much better. The day after their teacher came back from holiday, and things were back to normal. Relief. So my first few days as a teacher? Every day a challenge. But it is a challenging group for many reasons. First, the students are at different levels academically. Some can speak English fluently (such as the son of the school's founder, a woman from New Jersey), while others can barely speak in complete sentences. Some students are 13 years old and very mature for their ages, while others are as young as 6. All in the same class!!!

But there is one thing that almost all of these children have in common: they are bright and eager to learn. I have never met children so excited to come to class (ok I have, but not a huge group like this) and some of them retain so much of what you teach them that it blows you away the next day when they recite everything from yesterday's lesson. It will take a long time for me to really get to know these kids, which is alright. I have 6 months.

The Baobob Home

I think the most exciting part of my trip to Tanzania was the fact that I would finally get a chance to do something I've always wanted to do: volunteer. You would not believe how excited I was when Fredi told me over Skype that he'd done it: he'd found me a school that needs volunteers in Bagamoyo. This whole first week I had to sit on my hands to keep the anticipation down to a high buzz.

The school is called the Steven Tito Academy, and is a private school which takes in kids from the community who have an aptitude for learning, but the finances to persue their education. I wasn't sure what to expect, except that there would be kids, teaching, and work to do.

As myself and the other volunteer (named Laura) drove up to the school with a board member (also a Laura...the irony) I was instantly charmed by the location of the school. Attached to a home for orphaned kids, this school was outside of town on what could be described only as a farm, with cows and goats wandering around, a vegetable patch in the back and plenty of room for the kids to roam free. This is incredible.

The kids themselves were immediately excited to meet us and talk to us. They constantly giggled when they discovered that if they shouted out "Laura" all three of us would turn. It didn't take us long to get acquainted, as we played games in the garden with all of the younger kids from the home running around dangling on our arms, and jumping into the middle of our games.

It didn't take me long to realize that these children are all bright, but have really different levels of English. Nor do I really know what my job is, and probably never will get a clear answer from anyone. Just teach, the "real teachers" will come back from holiday next week. Ok. We may have no idea how far in over our heads we are but one thing is for sure. I will have a lot to write about.....

For more information about the school and the orphanage: http://www.tzkids.org

First days in Bagamoyo

Whenever you travel somewhere new, you never know what to expect. My first impressions in Africa involved me sometimes fighting my way through. I’ve been pushed, pulled, yelled at, begged, and ripped off. My bag even seemed to have a life of its own, as it got dragged and almost pulled onto moving vehicles going any direction except the one I wanted. This was what I feared I would have to expect in my new home, and I prepared myself for the onslaught.

As we walked into to town, I became acutely aware, as always, at how much I stand out as a westerner, and as a woman at that, who obviously doesn’t quite fit into the Muslim fashion. I kept expecting name calling, and people running up…..and to my surprise, and almost disappointment, nothing happened. Sure, people called out, but only to say “Mambo!” (or hello) Wow, get a grip, Laura. Stop pretending you’re a movie star, and be appreciative that you aren’t getting the special treatment. For once, people aren’t bugging you for being different, and it feels…. great!!!!

And I was. For the first time, I wasn’t some “mzungu” tourist hanging out at the local hotel and wandering around the town to check out the cute locals and how they live, expecting people to notice and appreciate me. No, this time it’s even better. Now I’m a resident “mzungu,” one of the many volunteers that wander around the town, buying their food from the market, and eating their lunches at the local restaurants. People know us, almost by name, and they know that we are here for a while, instead of just passing through.

There’s actually quite a big group of us, thanks to the Ifakara Health Institute, an NGO run hospital in town, and a dabbling of schools (like the one I will soon work at) and other projects. It makes life here seem almost…normal. People here don’t treat you tooooo differently, and when I go to the market the prices they tell me right off actually seem like the right ones. I could get used to this, I think. I’ve never been more excited to become part of a community. There’s so much I have to learn.

Time for a new chapter in this story

You may have been wondering: When on earth is Laura going to start writing something interesting again??? Or better, when is she going to write ANYTHING???

You will have to forgive me, fellow bloggers, I have been suffering from a serious case of writer's block. Switzerland, for one reason or another, as beautiful and pristine as it is, has been the culprit. There is something that makes it difficult to write about a place you come to know as home. It becomes harder and harder to note the differences, and observe how life is unique and special in that place that becomes commonplace and mundane. As a writer I often struggle with this. So I suppose it is as good a time as any for me to pack up my bags, wave Switzerland a fond "Ade," (for the moment) and try somewhere new.

I hope that in this new adventure I will have plenty to talk about, because needless to say, this new country I have decided to call home for the next 6 months is quite different from anywhere I have ever called "home," with a culture and a lifestyle that should be interesting to write about. I hope you will enjoy the new chapter of my blog as I explore Tanzania. Talk to you soon!!

10 tips to adjusting to life abroad

It's been a while....sorry everyone! I guess after living in Switzerland for a year, I've become less motivated to write about the place I live in, which seems every day more and more like a home, and less like a foreign country.....

But then recently inspiration hit me. As one friend came home from a trip abroad, and one left to go to South America, and my boyfriend headed off to Tanzania, I felt a pang of jealousy. Here they are, going to these amazing new places, to see amazing new things. I assumed they were having the times of their lives, and then I started getting Skype calls. I couldn't help but smirk a little when my boyfriend admitted over the screen, "Yeah, I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not traveling in Africa. I'm actually LIVING here." And that's where I may have him beat. These friends of mine are probably better pros than I'll ever be at traveling, flying, hosteling, and packing (well....maybe...) but I do one thing differently. I don't just travel to a place. I live there. And then write silly little blog entries about it. For long periods of time. Or not.

So I've come to the conclusion, as I give free advice to my friends overseas, whether they like it or not, that maybe I can write a little about my "living overseas" experience. I realize this may or may not be interesting to you, my dear reader, but let me give it a shot. Over the past few years, I've learned that the first impressions of a place you live in are often the deepest and most memorable, so it's important to appreciate and learn from your first days living in a new country. Whether it be France or Mongolia, every place takes a little adjusting to, and it's never going to be exactly like the place you call home. So here are My top ten tips to adjusting to living in a new culture:

1. Attach yourself to people you can trust. Regardless of what age they are, or where they come from, it's always nice to have a friend or two around. It could be the person who is hosting you at the beginning of your stay, or a colleague from your new work place, or maybe even someone you met through another person that one time in that one place. The most important thing is to have someone to rely on, who can help you out if you can't figure out how to get a calling card, or where to buy food, and really don't know what to do.

Even if it's another foreigner, sometimes two minds work better than one, and maybe they can help you work through some problems you might have at the beginning. And of course, it's always nice to have someone to talk to, about the new life you have, who will understand what you are talking about.

It's important to be cautious of who you put this trust in, but in every country I've ever lived in, I've always managed to find good people who truly meant to help me in every way possible, and that truly made a difference in navigating a crazy country.

2. Find a place to stay that is comfortable for you, even if temporarily. Ok, so you will have to adjust to maybe not having running water, or eating odd things that don't look quite right, but it's important to have a room, or place to sleep that is comforting to you. If you have that little bit of privacy, you'll be able to have some peaceful moments during your day to take a break from the chaos and regroup and rethink. If your living situation is really bringing you down, it will probably make the rest of your time there not so enjoyable.

3. Take some time for yourself. Sometimes a new place can be rather shocking, and can freak you out. Instead of forcing yourself out all day long to go sight seeing and make new friends, give yourself a break, even if it's before you go to bed, to just...chill. Write in your journal, read a book, listen to music, do something that relaxes you when you are at home. That way you'll feel recharged for whatever else comes your way. In contrast:

4. Don't hide away! Some of my friends who went abroad for the first time with me in France had this problem. They were so shocked by the country that they spent most of their time in their rooms. This is good for small periods of time to take a break, but be careful that you don't hide away. Then whatever small perceptions you have of the world outside you may become warped or magnified in ways that make you never want to leave your cover, and will probably make you more homesick than before. I found that if you live in a big city, it really helps to discover the quiet, peaceful neighborhoods. Then you can go for walks with your new friends and discover something a little more low key, without hiding away.

5. Find balance with your contacts at home. Of course I will be the first to say it's important to write to your mother and your grandmother so that they know you are alive and well, but be careful. If you spend most of your time on facebook, skype, chat, etc. you: a: miss home even more, and wish you were there and b: miss out on exploring a new place! All of those wasted hours where you could have been climbing a hill to get a great view, or going to a new café to eat something new and exciting. Time to step away from the computer, and communicate with people face to face. Everyone has their own balance. For me, once a week is a perfectly reasonable way to stay in contact.

6. Try to speak the language of the land. Even if you only know "hello," and "thank you," you will often find that the locals are friendlier and responsive towards a foreigner who is trying to respect their ways, even if they sound silly and foolish. It's important if you are going to live there to really try and learn the language, even if people speak your native tongue, or a language you feel more comfortable in. Be patient, it takes time, but if you listen to the radio, watch tv, and try to communicate with that lady in the supermarket, you'll soon discover that what seemed like a scary foreign country will feel more like home.

7. Find a new hobby, or join a new group. If you can pick up an old hobby from home, like a sport, or dancing, go with it. If not, this is a great time to learn something new, and try something that you might be good at, or at least enjoy. It's important to stay a little busy, and if you can stay physically active as well, you'll feel a hundred times better!!! Look around online, or ask locals. There's something for everyone, if you're a little flexible and open minded, and this is the best way to meet locals, who share similar interests to yourself. It's a great way to bond and make friends, and really enjoy your time abroad.

8. Do your best at whatever it is your doing. Whether you're studying, working, or just freeloading (ok, I don't know what to tell you guys, I've never tried that before ;-) ) it's important to give it your all. If you aren't motivated or interested in your job, or your studies, then what are you doing there anyways? Wasn't that part of the plan? Make sure you get your priorities straight, or you'll go home in a year and realize that you had a lot of fun abroad....but didn't accomplish much. If you really feel you learned something or achieved something great, you'll have that positive experience follow you for the rest of your life.

9. Adjust yourself to the cultural expectations. Although you may not be used to wearning long sleeves, or always keeping your hands on the table, unless you attempt to understand and appreciate the culture around you, you will always be labeled, and self label yourself as well as an outsider. This is ok for a 2 week vacation to Turkey, but if you want to gain some respect from the people around you (which I hope you do, you are living there after all), at least try to appreciate and accept some of their cultures. Of course this is not to say you should abandon all of your beliefs just for the sake of blending in. No, you should definitely stay vegetarian if you can't imagine the thought of tasting meat, or go to a special place to pray if you are religious. It's important to share your culture with the people around you as well. Just keep in mind and respect those customs that may seem funny or rediculous to you. I've had plenty of people laugh at me when I explained why they shouldn't open an umbrella inside. Now that's just ridiculous!

10. Most importantly....be PATIENT. With yourself. It's ok to be frustrated, or upset, or homesick for the first few weeks. That's normal for many people, when they live thousands of miles away from their family and friends, and miss what is familiar to them, whether it is missing the ability to read signs around them, or the supermarket with the familiar and friendly food items. It is normal....for a while. But don't let these feelings overrun the other feelings you might be having inside your brain: you may be thinking about all of the amazing things you saw and did that day, or all the crazy people you talked to. Don't go home later regretting that you left at all. This world is a big place, and there's so much to see. Enjoy it! Embrace it. But don't be afraid to be afraid. We're only human after all.

Unearthing Switzerland

Switzerland can be such a deceptively beautiful country. I have spent so many months here, trying to explore many different places, and every time it seems like no matter how hard I try, I cannot for the life of me find the "ugly truth" - aka, I think it's really important to look for those ugly, off the beaten path sort placecs in a country, to truly appreciate it for what it really is. But it's been quite the challenge. It seems like no matter how many walks, bike rides, or train rides you go on, you can see miles of endless beauty, and there never seems to be any places where you wouldn't want to stay just a little longer for that cup of coffee and fresh air, to appreciate it for what it really is. At least that's truly what I thought, until I started getting serious about this new idea of mine: why not, piece by piece, bike ride all of the way across Switzerland? This would be the greatest way to see parts of this country that I had never even known existed....it would be the ultimate test, to find something less than scenic along the way.

So off my friend Christoph and I went, from Menziken to Biel, exploring Emmental, Burgdorf, and other places along the way. In 80 miles, there must be something sharp and edgey, different from the perfect Swiss scenery I've become accostumed to. We spent 12 hours on the bike route, pedaling away, it was quite the tough ride for me, mainly because it was so long. But I was amazed, because everywhere we looked the scenery changed slightly, you never felt like you were in the same place twice. The views of the mountains constantly altered, and the fields switched from wildflowers to wheat as we passed from farm to village. Although it was always the same idea. No matter where we looked, it was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't believe it. There's a sort of simplicity in the beauty of Switzerland....everything is quaint and simple, smaller, less messy somehow. Everything is organized, and absolutely gorgeous.

So I gave in. I decided that all of Switzerland has to be like that, I had already seen so much for it not to be true. We agreed to stick to the plan however, once our legs recovered from what was by far the longest bike ride I've ever done in my life. A few weeks later, the plan was to ride to Zurich. I wasn't expecting any new surprises here, since I've been to Zurich more times than anywhere else in Switzerland, and it's the first place I explored in this country over 4 years ago. What could possibly be surprising?

And of course, that's when suprises always happen, when you least expect them. The problem with claiming you "know" a city, is that there are many ways to know a place, and it often depends on your approach: mentally and physically. In fact, if you think about it, usually your first impressions of a place are those that are strongest, so if you arrive in an ugly, unsafe Greyhound station somewhere outside of a big city, you're most likely to have a strong recollection of the place, not necessarily in a positive way.

I have the opposite problem with Zurich. The first moment I stepped off the train, I was mesmorized by all of the beautiful lights around me, and the calm, more collected feel of the city. I can only recollect lovely summer days wandering around in the forest nearby, or wild parties in the parks near the lake. But never had I arrived via bicycle, exploring from the outside of the city in. And let me tell you, as with any large metropolitan place, the outside is usually not nearly as nice looking as the inside.

So as we drove by factories, and dumpy worn out apartment complexes, I couldn't help but see why many Swiss people aren't a big fan of Zurich. In fact, on the outside, it's like any other city in the world: worn on the edges, rough, IMPERFECT. Finally, success, in the most surprising of places. As we rode back along the river, we saw many immigrant families, working on their city garden plots (I think out of all of the flags we spotted in the garden, perhaps 80% were Portuguese, 10% Croation and Serbian, and 1 was Swiss) next to dilapidated huts, and somewhat trashy riverbanks. But then it hit me, as we drove by barbeque after barbeque, where people were enjoying their time outside, swimming, listening to music, and talking. This imperfect part of the outskirts of the city was starting to take on a new form. In its own unique way, watching these less financially endowed families enjoy their weekend outdoors, this place was beautiful. After all, doesn't beauty come in many forms?

As I cycled along, I cast of my ideas of "perfection," realizing it was a pointless endeavor. Perfection doesn't really exist, and would anyone really want it to?

Luzern, the land of many Velos

I think one of my favorite words in the Swiss German vocabulary has to be the word "velo." Ok, so they stole it from the French, but it's almost a comforting word for me, something that I feel really familiar with, and that I can say without even thinking about it. It also happens to be Niven's favorite word too. As a three year old, nothing puts a smile on his face like when I say that magic word, "velo." Then he knows we'll be off on a bike ride, him sitting on the back of my bike singing along and watching the world go by, just like I did once as a little girl with my mother. Never did I realize that having a heavy kid on the back of your bike makes pedalling up a steep hill really difficult!!! But all the same, I have become a cycling enthusiast (my mother cheers in the background as she reads this post).It's not hard to see why. For a cyclist, Luzern is the dream city.

Why Luzern? Luzern is a very bike friendly city. Not only are the bike lanes just about every street, especially the busy ones, but they are very brightly painted and obvious, so that any driver who runs over a cyclist MUST be blind (or the cyclist wasn't where he/she was supposed to be). Even with traffic lights they have sensors for cyclists, who get their own spot to wait in front of all of the cars. This means that instead of waiting for the next car to trip the green light, you can actually manage to get a "go" on your own.

It's also more convenient than other forms of transport in the city. Although the busses are relatively frequent during the day, they stop running as often in the evening, and finish service by 12, which can be inconvenient if you want to stay out later. Not to mention that you'll have to pay quite a bit for the bus to begin with, and you're going to have to walk a little bit anyways to get where you want to go. With a bike, you can gete from point A to point B probably almost as fast if not faster than taking the bus. As for cars, finding parking in the city is really a pain. Not only is it expensive, but most street parking is limited to a few hours. Everywhere you look there is bike parking for free, and with plenty of nice bikes standing there, you feel more comfortable leaving your bike, knowing it probably won't be the first one stolen (Switzerland is pretty safe anyways, and people tend to use cheap flimsy locks on their bikes).

So now that I have gotten into the habit of riding my bicycle into town, there's no stopping me now. I feel so independent and competent, able to get anywhere at anytime, for free (ok, aside from a few costs of buying a lock, fixing things, etc). And those legs are getting stronger too, which can't hurt. Of course I'm not the only one with this great idea. From business suits to hipsters, biking is not just for the few out of many. It's as commonplace here as driving can be in America. It's a way of life.