Hello, it's nicole writing from Dar! pedro and I are having an incredible journey so far - can't believe its been just 2 weeks since arriving in africa, it seems like 2 months. that is the great thing about travel, without the routine of every day life, an afternoon can spans days.
The absolute highlight of Dar has been meeting (finally!) the 9 beautiful children at Boona-Baana's Green Door Home. they are each wonderful beautiful kids, filled with energy - a lot of energy - as all children are. I have not ever spent a lot of time around kids so this has been a complete joy and very funny at times. last week, our first week here, they were on holiday from school and were given a challenge by Mr. Marco (the co-founder of BB) to complete a 1,000 piece puzzle before being allowed to watch TV or use the computer. this proved challenging for all of us for many reasons! We also took a trip to Kipepeo beach (butterfly beach) which was a lot of fun. just getting to know each of these special children individually has been so great. When Pedro and I were here last, 5 1/2 years ago, the Green Door Home was just being completed and had not yet received any children, so it has been so great to meet them after only seeing pictures and reading brief histories on each. Linus, who is profiled on our website, is an even bigger rockstar then his bio reflects (he's provided me with an updated bio btw, which i'll upload to our site when back in Geneva is august). In addition to his nonprofit activities, he's also a musician and successful small businessman. details to come!
Dar has changed a lot in 5 years. What i remember as an almost sleepy town is now bustling. It's so interesting to see how it has changed. There are tons of new businesses, and traffic and even its first mall. we went to see the hulk there last night actually. Ha. We've also seen many friends we met last time, our good friend Thomas, who used to work at Boona-Baana and now does HIV community outreach for ActionAid, has been a gracious host along with Brooke and Marco. Thomas has shown us all around and we've enjoyed some really great fresh fish and great Tanzanian beer. :) We're staying at the BB volunteer dorms with 2 other volunteers, one from Holland and another from Belgium who is doing research here on the education system to complete her masters thesis.They are both great and have graciously showed us the ropes of volunteer life in Tanzania. We've fetched water ( i have learned to carry a bucket on my head! only bailed once after getting over zelous :) ) and have become fully accustomed to bucket showers. green door has had over 50 volunteers since we were here 5 years ago!
last weekend we were given the chance to go up to Saadani national park - about 2 hours north of Dar and the only park located next to the ocean - to experience a new safari lodge that will open in the coming weeks. A brother of a friend of ours asked us to come up and sort of try it out. What a treat. dinner by candlelight overlooking the Indian ocean. driving in we were greated by a herd of 10 - 12 giraff! It was incredible, really. The weekend was very special.
we're settled in now with a cell phone - +255 782 090 772 - feel free to give us a call! i have to go find Pedro - tonight we are finishing up individual interviews with each of the children which Brooke and Marco have asked us to complete while here. A basic check-in with each to see how they are feeling with school and life at the green door in general. A good idea.
last week as well we had the chance to meet with the acting country director from Concern Worldwide - a great group i got the chance to work with while at my last job, and they are great. Very impressive. and tomorrow we'll spend the day in the field with Kickstart, another great group working in rural agriculture.
Okay that's about it then- i am still getting used to this blog business, i feel weird actually. Like i am writing in a diary? funny, i guess i am so not tech saavy. we're looking forward to the next leg of this adventure which starts on Sat, when we fly to Zambia. We'll meet Tom and Vivian, the folks who pedro will return to and work with in Sept. they are meeting us in Lusaka and have asked Pedro to drive one of their trucks back to their safari camp from Lusaka. An adventure this will be indeed!!!
Missing our friends and fam and love you guys so much! Thanks for tuning in!!!
xoxo
nicole & Pedro
