Johannesburg, South Africa

On Wednesday, May 28th, we made the journey to South Africa! We got a taxi from Diani to the airport since it'd be the easiest thing. From there, we caught a flight to Nairobi. We had a 4 hour layover in Nairobi, which sucked. I managed to fall asleep for a few minutes and then a whole extended family of Asians had to come and sit literally in the seat next to me and start talking extremely loud when there were a ton of other seats to choose from. I was so mad. The time passed pretty quickly though and before I knew it, it was time to get on the plane. The plane ride was 4 hours to Joburg. We were seated in the first row behind 1st class. We kept peeking through the curtains and the guy next to us and the steward in 1st class were laughing at us. There was no one in the seats in front of us, so we also stole their pillows since only 1st class got some. I thought sitting there was going to suck, but it was actually pretty nice because we had a lot of leg room and were able to put our feet up. We arrived in Joburg at about 7 p.m. and found a taxi to our hostel. We stayed at this really cute place called Bob's Bunk House. It's a hostel run by this cute little old guy named Bob and his wife. We pretty much just went on the internet for a little while and then headed off to bed. In the morning, Bob made some toast for us and even brought out 1 apple for each of us. It was really cute. We ended up leaving this hostel though to stay in a hostel in Melville closer to where Sarah's friend YumYum lived and the bus station. Our next hostel was just called Melville International Backpackers. Our room there was the most full room we've stayed in yet. It was almost completely full. We met up around 12 with YumYum and her boyfriend's brother Pegul. We went and ate lunch at a place called Nando's and then went to the mall. After that, we split up from Pegul and we went to YumYum's dorm for a little and then to a bigger mall. We then went back to the hostel to eat dinner. Since that hostel had a kitchen, we were able to cook. We had some soup and grilled cheese. Even though it took forever because the stove sucked, it was delicious. Later that night we went out with YumYum, her boyfriend, and his brother. We went to this place and had huge beers for really cheap. We were having a really good time, but unfortunately the place closed pretty early. They dropped us off back at our hostel where we said our goodbyes.

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the airplane!

Nyali, Kenya

Our hotel in Dar was sort of down a sketch alley so luckily there was a taxi outside when we went out to catch a ride to the airport. We ended up being extremely early to the airport. You always have to be careful when traveling around Dar because if you leave during traffic time, it could take hours to get somewhere. So we left early just in case. We sat outside for a while before proceeding to go inside and check-in. Once we did that, we got some breakfast. I still wasn't feeling that well so I only got a muffin and struggled to eat it. The sun was just beginning to rise when we got on our plane. Our first flight was from Dar to Nairobi. It was a pretty quick flight and we got fed a breakfast of fruit, a croissant, a roll, and tea. It was pretty good for airplane food. When we arrived in Nairobi, we first had to purchase our Visa's. After that, we had to walk over to the domestic flights terminal which was a lot more complicated than it should have been. Luckily, our layover wasn't too long and we were soon on our next flight from Nairobi to Mombasa. Even though this was only a 45 minute flight, we were again fed a croissant and tea. When we arrived in Mombasa, we first had to get some money out of the ATM, which also turned out being more complicated than it should have been because the first one didn't work. It was exciting though to be in Kenya! The 4th country that I have ever been to. As I get older, I'm hoping that maybe every year that number will increase by at least 1. We found our taxi driver after getting money out. It was sprinkling outside so we asked the driver where the sun was. He said he had the sun's phone number and would call it for us and tell it to come out. Sure enough, when we arrived at our hostel the sun was coming out and he said it was because he called it. He was very funny. We spent the next 5 nights (May 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th) at Mombasa Backpackers in Nyali. The place was pretty nice, but also pretty empty. With all the recent bombings in Kenya and the travel warnings not to go there, it seemed like we were some of the only tourists there. For the most part while we were there, we were just hanging out and relaxing. I think Sarah was still getting over her jet-lag and I was getting over being sick. Aside from going to the beach and swimming in the pool, we did do some pretty fun things.

One thing we did was go to Haller Park. It was pretty much just like a zoo. We got to feed giraffes though which was quite an experience! We also saw a ginormous tortoise that was over 100 years old and native to Seychelles. Some other animals we saw there were zebras, antelope, hippos, snakes, and crocodiles.

We were also lucky enough to have the chance to explore Old Town Mombasa. We got to see Fort Jesus along with a lot of other old mosques and buildings. I actually really loved Old Town. It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me a lot of what some old European towns might look like. The streets were really narrow with brick-like streets. It was really cool to see and I'm glad we did.

A Day in Dar

On Tuesday, May 20th, Sarah and I had the whole day to spend in Dar. We woke up around 8 a.m. and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then we got ready for the day and headed off to what was supposed to be a botanical garden. It ended up really just being some grass and some trees. Nothing really even had the names on it explaining what it was and where it was from. On the way there, Sarah had asked me where the monkeys were, and I told her that I didn't really think there were any wild monkeys in Dar since it was a city and all. I hadn't seen any monkeys all the nights I spent in Dar. When we got to the botanical garden though, there were a bunch of monkeys hanging around! After that, we walked to KFC and had an ice cream cone. We then just walked around for a little. We were trying to just stay out until the place we wanted to eat lunch opened at 12:30. We ended up having a lot of time left so we walked to the Grand Casino and had a drink while we waited. Finally, it was lunchtime so we walked to the Hyatt for their lunch buffet. It ended up being so expensive and we had no idea! It cost us about $75 for lunch! So crazy. We were so tired after that so we ended up taking a nap. We slept almost all day because we knew we weren't going to get much sleep that night because of our flight. We woke up and decided to go to the supermarket for some snacks. After that, we went back to the hotel where we read for a little bit and then proceeded to go back to sleep at around 10:30. We had to wake up at 2 a.m. to go to the airport to catch our flight to Kenya!

A Day of Lasts

On Saturday, May 17th, we spent our last full day in Iringa. Our research papers were also due this day. So, I woke up and immediately got started on that. I had finished it the night before, but wanted to read through and revise it a little before turning it in. After I finished, I just watched Monsters Inc. in my room while I waited for Julia and Renee to finish. Once we were done, we headed off to spend our last day in town. As much as I hated those daladala rides into town, it was very bittersweet to take our last one. Our first stop was one of our favorite restaurants, Neema's, for lunch. After that, we went to a little craft store so that Renee could finish buying some gifts. Justin then picked us up along with his son, Juma, to go play volleyball. A lot of the people that we play rugby with were there and it turned out to be a lot of fun. After volleyball, we headed off to our goodbye dinner at Mama Iringa (a really good italian restaurant. Justing told us we could order whatever we wanted because we had some money leftover in the budget. So we all got pasta and some pizzas for the table. We also ordered a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne. We all toasted to "The Pioneer Group of CIEE Iringa." Juma decided to be depressing though and toast to "The End." All day I was trying hard not to think about it being our last day, but it was hard not to. We all ordered some delicious dessert and then headed back to school to pack (none of us had even started.) Packing went quicker than expected. I was thinking I'd be able to leave with only one suitcase and my backpack, but I definitely need both of my suitcases.

On Sunday, we had to wake up early to get the rest of our stuff together and leave. It felt good to be leaving the dorms, but sad to be leaving Iringa. We brought all our stuff down to the car where we also said our goodbyes to Justin. That was hard. Even though he was only our director for 6 short weeks, he was awesome and we all really grew to love him. He did welcome us to his house if we're ever in Iringa again so I will probably take him up on that offer one day! The car ride to Dar started off fine, however after about 1 and a half hours it took a turn for the worse. It turns out that I was extremely sick. Luckily we had a bag in the car because I started throwing up. I sadly could barely even lift my head to look out the window for our last mini safari through Mikumi. It would come in waves where I would feel completely horrible and then better. When I was feeling sick though, it was absolutely horrible. I've never felt so sick before. At one point, we stopped because everyone else wanted to buy some food and the guys on the side of the road were just sticking mean in my face. It was awful. Also, this one guy just kept blowing kisses at me and saying he wanted to make me his wife. I was so over it and I was so glad when we left. I continued to throw up the rest of the car ride. I couldn't even keep down water so I was really afraid I was going to have to go to the hospital. Luckily, I didn't have to when we got into town we went to Paulo's house to drop off our suitcases. I drank a small amount of fresh mango juice there which I thought I was for sure going to throw up. As soon as I drank it I felt like I was once again going to puke. When we got to the hotel, it felt so good to lay down. I felt perfectly fine as long as I was laying still. My juice was still staying down and I was even able to keep some sprite down! I was glad I was feeling a little better because the next morning I needed to pick Sarah up from the airport. I was starting to think that I might have to send Julia. I was really sad that I was sick on our last night together though. We had been planning a sushi dinner and froyo night for weeks. As much as I wanted to go, I just couldn't. There's no way I could've sat in a restaurant. So unfortunately, I had to stay behind.

On Monday morning, I woke up feeling a lot better at 4:45 a.m. to catch a cab to go get Sarah from the airport. She was the first one to come out. Oh yeah, and before I left the hotel, I also had to say goodbye to Renee because she would be gone by the time I got back. We just gave a quick hug goodbye since we had both just woken up and were tired. When Sarah and I got back to the hotel, we woke up Julia (unintentionally) and the 3 of us went and had breakfast at a place called the Tea Room. Since I was feeling better, I ate one chapati pancake. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel where we all took naps and then looked up some places to eat lunch. We decided on some Indian food places. We got a little lost on the way there and had to ask for directions. By the time we got there, I was not feeling well at all. I ordered some juice and masala chips though. I drank the juice, but by the time my chips came I thought I was going to throw up again. After we paid, we walked back to the hotel where we took yet another nap. When I woke up, I was feeling better so Julia and I went to this ice-cream place called "Creme-Stone." It was basically Coldstone and it was so good. I was able to finish it all and I felt fine afterwards. We walked back to the hotel and it was time for Julia to catch a cab to the airport. I walked her out to the cab and gave her a hug goodbye and started crying. It was really weird to say goodbye to someone who you've spent every day of the past 4 months with. The 3 of us did everything together and were never apart for more than a few hours. Now, I don't even know when I'll see either of them again. Those were some hard goodbyes. That night, Sarah and I walked to a South African chain pizza place called Debonairs. It was good and I was also able to keep that down. Yay!

Goodbyes Are Never Easy

How do you say goodbye to kids that you’ve grown to love over the last 4 weeks? You don’t. There is no easy way to even begin to go about doing so. Looking into their smiling faces as they were giving me hugs yesterday just made it that much harder. I didn’t tell them I was leaving forever. I couldn’t do it. I said goodbye to them like I did everyday. Except for one small detail. I didn’t say “Tutaonana kesho” which means “We will see each other tomorrow”. I said this everyday to them, except for yesterday. I didn’t want to lie to them, but I couldn’t bear to tell them the truth either. They’re used to people coming in and out anyways. I didn’t give them any last hugs before leaving. I just cherished every single one that they gave me that day, knowing it would be our last.

I knew it would be hard to leave, but I didn’t really know it would be this hard. Mufindi changed my life. It changed my whole perspective on life. It’s one thing to read about and know about orphans. It’s another completely different thing to work with them in person. To see their smiling faces everyday and know that they have no parents to take care of them. To see them crying and know that they will never be able to cry for their mother again. It’s life changing. These kids are so inspiring with how they are able to seem so happy. If you just met any of them without knowing, you would never guess. They seem just like any other happy kids. Some of the kids living there are only there temporarily. They were removed from their home because of abuse and the NGO hopes to place them back with their families eventually. Do you know what it’s like to look at a kid and know that they were so badly abused that they had to be removed from their homes? Its absolutely heartbreaking. I don’t see how anybody could hurt a child. How could someone abuse that happy little boy that just ran up and gave me a huge hug? How is that even possible? It’s unbelievable. The other kids living there have lost both their parents, mostly to HIV, and are true orphans. I learned some of their stories while I was there, and became touched by them…

…One young boy named Mussa, just one look at him and your heart will melt. He’s quite the troublemaker though. He’s always doing something to get in trouble, but one look at his little face and it’s hard to get angry with him. Mussa is one of the original kids from the NGO. He has no family left. He has been living there for just about his whole life.

…Another young boy named James. He is always smiling. He loves the camera. Every time you see him he asks “Piga picha!” (Take a picture). It can get annoying, but all he wants is to see the picture of himself after you take it. He has some sort of back deformity. Although he can still walk, he is starting to become in more and more pain. They’re not sure what exactly is wrong with him, but they want to keep him as mobile as possible and not confine him to a wheelchair. No one picks on him though. All the kids actually seem to help him. I learned later on that he is actually Eliza’s brother, the little girl that Julia was taking care of.

…Boni was another little boy I learned about. He too is always happy, just as all the kids are. Boni always seemed a little off though. A little slow in his learning and his behavior a little off as well. I learned that they had somebody come look at Boni, and they think he has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. This too is just unbelievable to me. I don’t know how anybody could knowingly drink while they are pregnant. Maybe in a rural area like Mufindi, they don’t know about FAS as much, but I bet they do. I don’t know how someone could knowingly put their child into harms way like that. How they could possibly ruin their child’s life by giving them a disorder that is completely preventable.

It was definitely hard to leave the kids. As we were driving away this morning, I did start crying a little bit. I just couldn’t get their little smiling faces out of my head. If I could, I would take them all home with me. I’m glad they are where they are though. They are getting a good life there with a good education and a good family support system. As much as I have come to dislike NGOs overall since I’ve been here and learned more about them, some of these kids owe their life to this NGO, and how could you not be thankful that they are there?

Leaving the kids was the hardest part of the day yesterday, but last night Jenny, Geoff, Amari, and Justin came over for a final game night/hangout before we take off. We ended up playing the game with no name. I had never played before, but it turned out to be really fun. They left a little early so that we could start packing up since we were leaving early in the morning. This morning, we stopped by one last time at their house to drop off a few things with them and say our final goodbyes. I’m definitely going to miss Mufindi. It really was a life changing experience and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go there.

Boni

William

Melania

Musa

Godi

James

Rahabu, Me, Farahini

Tuke

Tom, James, Melania, Anotonia

James

Dotto, Upendo, James

Dotto, Kulwa

Tito, Nache, Wiston

Our last morning in Mufindi.