The Idea
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
More than one place feels like home.
Here it is...the final (or close to final) post for Tanzania. I suppose this closes up the Giving Back and Exploring stories, for a little while at least. Almost two months have passed since I left the Rift Valley Children's Village. After boarding the plane at Kilimanjaro, I visited China with two best friends, and then just days after landing in the States, repacked my stuff for a move to one of the biggest cities in the world where other friends and I whisked a queen sized bed down New York's 23rd street to my new apartment. The differences in experience over the past few months are wondrous..borderline overwhelming...but pretty cool. Thanks for following along for the past year or so. It's most definitely been the most important, and best, so far.
Despite the recent hustle and bustle, not a day goes by that I don't wonder about the kids back at the Village, and how things are going there. I loved being a part of their lives. The wake-ups, the school, the fun...so it doesn't surprise me that I've spent several hours a day sorting through pictures and videos to make these recap videos and capture what it was like to be there. Thanks to everyone at the Rift Valley Children's Village for letting me become part of their family.
The first video is a short overview of the Rift Valley Children's Village. I made the second, expanded video for the kids; it has many more pictures and videos. I hope that these videos give you a look into what it was like to be in Tanzania, and what it's like to have all of the creative freedom in the world to have fun with the kids. Spending time with them was nothing short of inspiring, and I hope that these videos inspire you to get involved. You can easily make a donation and there's always a wish list posted on the RVCV website.
One of the most important things you can do is sponsor one or more of the children. It's a really wonderful way to establish a connection with the kids - their faces would light up anytime they received letters from sponsors. And I have no shortage of stories about most of the kids at the Village. Don't hesitate to let me know if this is something that interests you. It's a tough time financially for just about everyone, but even the smallest contribution makes a big difference.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Video: Teaching at Gyetighi Primary School
As a volunteer with the Rift Valley Children's Fund, an orphanage in Tanzania, I was lucky enough to teach English to the Cheke Chea (kindergarten) at Gyetighi Primary School. Gyetighi (prounced geh-tee-gee) is about a 5 minute walk from the Children's Village. Every day at 1pm I'd walk over to school, where I'd be with the 17 kindergartners in the afternoon class for about 2 hours, teaching English, helping them with math (in Swahili!), and playing with them outside. None of the kids in my class lived at the Children's Village, where there is a relatively good supply of clothing, toiletries and food. The differences in clothing and health were apparent on a daily basis. But their smiles and spirits were 17 of my most favorite parts of being in Tanzania.
This video highlights the fun that we had as a class, but there's still lots of work to be done. Renovations at Gyetighi are on-going, and necessary to bring more sunlight and supplies into the classrooms. For the upper level students, who have full days of school, class size makes learning difficult. There is no electricity at the school, there are very few textbooks, and because most students do not have access to light in evening hours, there's no homework. RVCV runs a lunch program for the 450 children at school. For many of the children, who walk over an hour to get to school, this is their only meal of the day.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Goodbye PRC!
Thanks again to Julia for hosting us in China. To keep up with Jules' blog about her research on Buddhism in China, and her daily life there visit http://juliagooding.blogspot.com
Beijing. Famous for...the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, 2008 Olympics.. I also saw...urban sprawl; it's an expanding metropolitan area that is quickly destroying the more ancient parts of the city. But, there's great infrastructure and great food, and acrobatics shows that raised my eyebrows because of the tricks, and also because of the ages of some participants. I'd say Beijing was our favorite place on the trip - it's a liveable city with lots of stuff for tourists to do.
Shanghai. Famous for...skyscrapers, business, shipping and fashion. I also saw...a spectacular national museum that put me in touch with just how old Chinese civilization is. Not to mention the club scene of the upper crust youth of Shanghai, who dance and smoke like there's no tomorrow (imagine NYC caliber clubs/bars without the cover charges and dress codes, with the exception of one place that forced me to wear gold sequin pumps that were three sizes too small.) We also had the grand tour of Asia via international cuisine - Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Indian and Thai!
Yangshuo. Famous for...karst (limestone) peaks, which are particularly special here because of the humid climate (we are realllly far south in China) and the absence of glaciers in the peaks' erosion history. I also saw...a cultural-musical lightshow created by the producer of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremonies. With a small lake and the karst peaks as a backdrop, the performance was a striking example of how natural beauty can be accentuated by human and unnatural elements (think florescent lighting...the Chinese LOVE florescent lighting). We sat through a torrential downpour covered only by thin plastic ponchos to watch the show, so it was obviously worth it!
Longji. Famous for...Chinese minority groups and rice terraces, which were pain-stakingly carved into the hillsides over 600 years ago. The rice terraces look like "a dragon's spine" or to the non-dragon tamers among us, a real-life topographical map. The cool thing is that the place isn't just a tourist attraction. The terraces are working rice paddies, complete with simple but effective irrigation systems that are also hundreds of years old. The manual labor involved in all of this is incredible. We hiked four hours between the two villages of Jinkeng and Ping'An...lots of steps, LOTS of rice paddies, definitely my favorite part of the trip.
Shanghai. Famous for...skyscrapers, business, shipping and fashion. I also saw...a spectacular national museum that put me in touch with just how old Chinese civilization is. Not to mention the club scene of the upper crust youth of Shanghai, who dance and smoke like there's no tomorrow (imagine NYC caliber clubs/bars without the cover charges and dress codes, with the exception of one place that forced me to wear gold sequin pumps that were three sizes too small.) We also had the grand tour of Asia via international cuisine - Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Indian and Thai!
Yangshuo. Famous for...karst (limestone) peaks, which are particularly special here because of the humid climate (we are realllly far south in China) and the absence of glaciers in the peaks' erosion history. I also saw...a cultural-musical lightshow created by the producer of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremonies. With a small lake and the karst peaks as a backdrop, the performance was a striking example of how natural beauty can be accentuated by human and unnatural elements (think florescent lighting...the Chinese LOVE florescent lighting). We sat through a torrential downpour covered only by thin plastic ponchos to watch the show, so it was obviously worth it!
Longji. Famous for...Chinese minority groups and rice terraces, which were pain-stakingly carved into the hillsides over 600 years ago. The rice terraces look like "a dragon's spine" or to the non-dragon tamers among us, a real-life topographical map. The cool thing is that the place isn't just a tourist attraction. The terraces are working rice paddies, complete with simple but effective irrigation systems that are also hundreds of years old. The manual labor involved in all of this is incredible. We hiked four hours between the two villages of Jinkeng and Ping'An...lots of steps, LOTS of rice paddies, definitely my favorite part of the trip.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Another update from behind the curtain
A few observations about China, now that I've been here for almost two weeks. As always, pick and choose what (if anything!) you feel like reading.
I understand the population size through faces...
There is an enormous number of people in China - 18 MILLION in Beijing alone. Pretty incredible to think about--and just for one city! Given the size, scope and history of China, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me how different everyone looks here. Not in a different-from-me kind of way; I've been really struck by how different the Chinese look from each other. (Perhaps ignorantly, I'd expected the Chinese to look pretty similar across the board, like Scandanavians, Germans.) Though the diversity doesn't approach what you'd see in an American city (particularly in racial terms), the varying appearances of peoples' faces hint at the enormous population creating those facial differences.
Production, production, production!
We haven't witnessed production first-hand per se, but I know it's happening here 24/7. If the air quality doesn't remind me when I step outside, the overwhelming sense of consumerism does. There is stuff being sold EVERYWHERE for prices that reflect the items' distances from their production sites, and the mass quantity at which they've been produced. I have yet to buy something that costs more than $5 after a little bargaining, which Julia does skillfully in Chinese. In Shanghai we took a cruise down the Huangpu River, to the mouth of the Yangzi. Over the course of our three hour tour we got a sense of the magnitude of industry in China, and the scope of Chinese shipping. We passed barge after barge, cargo ship after cargo ship, most labeled 'China Shipping', all busy loading containers filled with who-knows-what for who-knows-where (probably the US). Literally for an entire hour and a half, all we passed were cargo ships and barges, that's how much is being exported on a daily basis.
Oppression, but no depression here
In 2006, I went to Budapest, Hungary, a formerly Communist country which 'broke free' after some serious struggle about twenty years ago. Budapest struck me as a quiet, depressed place, where people seemed too afraid to speak in public. I visited the House of Terror there, which highlighted Soviet war crimes and left me with chills and a baaad taste for Communism. I expected China to leave me with the same feeling, but so far (outwardly, at least) things couldn't be more to the contrary. Everyone seems pretty happy-go-lucky, enjoying the country's prosperity, and not minding the political system. They dress in every color of the rainbow (no New York black schemes to be found in either Beijing or Shanghai), and seem content to be out and about buying things they don't need, enjoying the dining and nightlife options in the city. Weird to think that people in their 40s have excellent memory of the recent past, especially Tienanmen Sq. in 1989. From everything I can see though, things seem pretty good here, in the cities at least...we'll see what the next week, further 'into China' brings.
Eat your heart out!
I had no idea that this trip would be such a culinary experience! Chinese food in China is nothing like the Chinese food I've had in the States (China Gourmet, Main Moon, etc., haha). Here, it's actually good! The grease isn't overpowering and everything is very flavorful; the spices really make it. MSG should probably get some credit, but one of my other favorite spices is this stuff from Sichuan that looks a bit like a pepper kernel and makes your tongue go a little numb, which is fun. We usually eat it on green beans, grilled with chili peppers. There have also been chicken kebabs, sugar potatoes that you dip in water to caramelize (delicious, my sweet tooth loved them), lots of eggplant/potato dishes, dim sum (we ordered SIXTEEN dishes on Sunday morning, including shrimp dumplings, buns stuffed with BBQ pork, the tongue numbing beans, mango in glutinous rice sprinkled with coconut, and mashed red beans topped with gelatin, which were surprisingly tasty.) Thus far I've avoided the strange/ethically debatable-no ducks, dogs, chicken feet, or other body parts that make my eyebrows raise when someone mentions eating them.
The eating experience is super communal - we order a bunch of dishes and share them all, which is a fantastic way to try everything and inevitably end up almost uncomfortably full. Usually the meals run us between $3 and $8 each--ridiculously affordable for what we're eating. I've had some great Nepalese, Indian and Thai food in Beijing/Shanghai, too. (Love that green curry!)
Pollution
It's true what they say, China is one of the most polluted places on earth. My first few days in Beijing, we were blessed with sunny, cloud-free skies; but within 72 hours, the blue skies and light breezes gave way to hazy overcast and pretty stagnant hot air. Weather wise, I can't say much more for Shanghai. You can practically smell the pollution mixed with cigarette smoke as you walk around outside. Not to mention the Chinese nightclub atmosphere, which left me with a morning cough worthy of an 80 year old lifetime smoker. For the record, the club was worth it--that's how fun the nightlife is. Anyway, I've been contemplating buying a mask lately... :-P
I understand the population size through faces...
There is an enormous number of people in China - 18 MILLION in Beijing alone. Pretty incredible to think about--and just for one city! Given the size, scope and history of China, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me how different everyone looks here. Not in a different-from-me kind of way; I've been really struck by how different the Chinese look from each other. (Perhaps ignorantly, I'd expected the Chinese to look pretty similar across the board, like Scandanavians, Germans.) Though the diversity doesn't approach what you'd see in an American city (particularly in racial terms), the varying appearances of peoples' faces hint at the enormous population creating those facial differences.
Production, production, production!
We haven't witnessed production first-hand per se, but I know it's happening here 24/7. If the air quality doesn't remind me when I step outside, the overwhelming sense of consumerism does. There is stuff being sold EVERYWHERE for prices that reflect the items' distances from their production sites, and the mass quantity at which they've been produced. I have yet to buy something that costs more than $5 after a little bargaining, which Julia does skillfully in Chinese. In Shanghai we took a cruise down the Huangpu River, to the mouth of the Yangzi. Over the course of our three hour tour we got a sense of the magnitude of industry in China, and the scope of Chinese shipping. We passed barge after barge, cargo ship after cargo ship, most labeled 'China Shipping', all busy loading containers filled with who-knows-what for who-knows-where (probably the US). Literally for an entire hour and a half, all we passed were cargo ships and barges, that's how much is being exported on a daily basis.
Oppression, but no depression here
In 2006, I went to Budapest, Hungary, a formerly Communist country which 'broke free' after some serious struggle about twenty years ago. Budapest struck me as a quiet, depressed place, where people seemed too afraid to speak in public. I visited the House of Terror there, which highlighted Soviet war crimes and left me with chills and a baaad taste for Communism. I expected China to leave me with the same feeling, but so far (outwardly, at least) things couldn't be more to the contrary. Everyone seems pretty happy-go-lucky, enjoying the country's prosperity, and not minding the political system. They dress in every color of the rainbow (no New York black schemes to be found in either Beijing or Shanghai), and seem content to be out and about buying things they don't need, enjoying the dining and nightlife options in the city. Weird to think that people in their 40s have excellent memory of the recent past, especially Tienanmen Sq. in 1989. From everything I can see though, things seem pretty good here, in the cities at least...we'll see what the next week, further 'into China' brings.
Eat your heart out!
I had no idea that this trip would be such a culinary experience! Chinese food in China is nothing like the Chinese food I've had in the States (China Gourmet, Main Moon, etc., haha). Here, it's actually good! The grease isn't overpowering and everything is very flavorful; the spices really make it. MSG should probably get some credit, but one of my other favorite spices is this stuff from Sichuan that looks a bit like a pepper kernel and makes your tongue go a little numb, which is fun. We usually eat it on green beans, grilled with chili peppers. There have also been chicken kebabs, sugar potatoes that you dip in water to caramelize (delicious, my sweet tooth loved them), lots of eggplant/potato dishes, dim sum (we ordered SIXTEEN dishes on Sunday morning, including shrimp dumplings, buns stuffed with BBQ pork, the tongue numbing beans, mango in glutinous rice sprinkled with coconut, and mashed red beans topped with gelatin, which were surprisingly tasty.) Thus far I've avoided the strange/ethically debatable-no ducks, dogs, chicken feet, or other body parts that make my eyebrows raise when someone mentions eating them.
The eating experience is super communal - we order a bunch of dishes and share them all, which is a fantastic way to try everything and inevitably end up almost uncomfortably full. Usually the meals run us between $3 and $8 each--ridiculously affordable for what we're eating. I've had some great Nepalese, Indian and Thai food in Beijing/Shanghai, too. (Love that green curry!)
Pollution
It's true what they say, China is one of the most polluted places on earth. My first few days in Beijing, we were blessed with sunny, cloud-free skies; but within 72 hours, the blue skies and light breezes gave way to hazy overcast and pretty stagnant hot air. Weather wise, I can't say much more for Shanghai. You can practically smell the pollution mixed with cigarette smoke as you walk around outside. Not to mention the Chinese nightclub atmosphere, which left me with a morning cough worthy of an 80 year old lifetime smoker. For the record, the club was worth it--that's how fun the nightlife is. Anyway, I've been contemplating buying a mask lately... :-P
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