Today there was a bat in the bathroom! Umm, a BAT!!! Thank goodness I wasn’t the one who discovered it… I think it just would have been all over for me… Another volunteer, Lindsey (she’s the one feeding the monkeys in the previous post and the one holding the bigger crocodile in the “I like my Fingers” post), was in the bathroom but then came charging out with the most terrified look on her face! Now Lindsey tends to be the braver, more curious one in the group— she picks up just about any little critter she wants to get a closer look at: frogs, beetles, moths, whatever…
So when Lindsey is afraid, me and Liara almost don’t even want to know what it is… I’d actually rather not know, LOL. I walk around as if a lot of the things here just don’t exist... it’s easier that way and I think it’s the only way I’ve been able to survive! I knew there were bats here—LOTS of them actually cause I see them every night… but they don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them. This goes for most things: the bats, the chickens (although I’m not afraid of chickens, I certainly don’t want one to approach me, LOL.. they just randomly walk all around town), the goats that roam around, the GIGANTIC bugs, the mice, the oversized wasps & dragonflies, and a number of insects I’ve never even seen before coming here… there’s a little bit of EVERYthing!
Anyway, Lindsey comes charging out of the bathroom and doesn’t say a word. She tells Liara to go look in the bathroom (Liara is worse than me!) and they start screaming and making so much noise that the security guard (who sits by the front gate to the house) came running into the room. Once he saw what was causing all the commotion, he just laughed. He simply got a napkin (yeah, a little thin little napkin!) scooped up the bat and set it free outside. The staff is still laughing at us about this one… it’s ok though, we get laughed at a lot for the “little” things we are afraid of…
Umm, sorry... there will be NO pictures of the bats!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Safari @ Saadani Nat'l Park
Today Lindsey, Liara and I went to Saadani National Park for a safari. It was great! None of us had been on a safari before, so we really didn't care that Saadani is the smallest national Park in Tanzania. (Serengeti is much farther away from Bagamoyo than I realized, so I won't be going there after all.)
The park was so peaceful and quiet... I guess I never thought about what it would sound like, but it was incredibly quiet. All you could hear were birds chirping and the wind blowing the tall grass and the leaves in the trees...
We saw giraffes, zebras, warthogs, buffalo, redbacks, waterbacks, tons of colorful birds, wildebeest, monkeys, baboons, and more. The only thing we didn't see were the elephants... believe it or not we couldn't "find" them!
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Traditional Swahili Cooking
The food here has probably been the best food I have had in a loooong time, thanks to our chefs Edda and Robert!
Today we learned to cook a traditional Swahili meal. My jobs: the coconut rice and the Afrikan Salad. Sounds easy right? Just salad and rice? Well, everything is done manually here (and not just cooking but everything else too), so you don’t buy things already chopped or already pre-cooked or already ANYthing, LOL. The rice took quite a long time, because I had to sift through it (manually, remember?) to pick out any stones or grass or other things that didn’t look edible. Then I had to wash it off—but we can’t drink the tap water and washing rice for 25 people with water from the water cooler isn’t easy! Then of course, the coconut milk… umm, we had to make it! We started with whole coconuts, cracked them open, scraped the insides out (with a tool I’ve never seen before), then soaked the shreds in warm water to make coconut milk. Coconut milk is used in almost every dish here… I think that’s one of the secrets.
Next the salad. This actually was pretty easy except everything has to be rewashed after it was cut—so the cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, shredded carrots (manually shredded), and green peppers all had to be rewashed (because they were initially rinsed with tap water). We did this with warm filtered water and vinegar, which actually gives the salad a nice taste too. Then we seasoned the salad with just salt and lemon juice (freshly squeezed, of course!). This salad is so good... not the mention healthy for you.
Other things on the menu: fried calamari, chapati, freshly baked coconut bread with cashew nuts, fish, and a spicy tomato sauce with chopped veggies (I always forget the name)—then fresh pineapple, mango, & papaya for desert (we have these with every meal).
Everything here is so fresh. Nothing is processed or contains preservatives and I can really taste the difference. I will definitely miss the food when it’s time to leave… I’m trying to get as many recipes as I can!
Today we learned to cook a traditional Swahili meal. My jobs: the coconut rice and the Afrikan Salad. Sounds easy right? Just salad and rice? Well, everything is done manually here (and not just cooking but everything else too), so you don’t buy things already chopped or already pre-cooked or already ANYthing, LOL. The rice took quite a long time, because I had to sift through it (manually, remember?) to pick out any stones or grass or other things that didn’t look edible. Then I had to wash it off—but we can’t drink the tap water and washing rice for 25 people with water from the water cooler isn’t easy! Then of course, the coconut milk… umm, we had to make it! We started with whole coconuts, cracked them open, scraped the insides out (with a tool I’ve never seen before), then soaked the shreds in warm water to make coconut milk. Coconut milk is used in almost every dish here… I think that’s one of the secrets.
Next the salad. This actually was pretty easy except everything has to be rewashed after it was cut—so the cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, shredded carrots (manually shredded), and green peppers all had to be rewashed (because they were initially rinsed with tap water). We did this with warm filtered water and vinegar, which actually gives the salad a nice taste too. Then we seasoned the salad with just salt and lemon juice (freshly squeezed, of course!). This salad is so good... not the mention healthy for you.
Other things on the menu: fried calamari, chapati, freshly baked coconut bread with cashew nuts, fish, and a spicy tomato sauce with chopped veggies (I always forget the name)—then fresh pineapple, mango, & papaya for desert (we have these with every meal).
Everything here is so fresh. Nothing is processed or contains preservatives and I can really taste the difference. I will definitely miss the food when it’s time to leave… I’m trying to get as many recipes as I can!
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