Now the Adventure Begins

*So it's been a few days without a post so I owe you one! Sorry there are no pictures, it has been difficult to find an internet connection better than dial up. Anyways thanks for reading and feel free to let me know what you think.*

So on our first full day in Nairobi we had orientation where we found out we'd be leaving the hustle and bustle of Nairobi for Nakuru, Kenyas fourth largest city situated 2.5 hours outside Nairobi in the Great Rift Valley. Nakuru's claim to fame is its lake that houses over a million flamingos. The national park that surrounds it boasts sizable populations of Zebras, Buffalos, Baboons, and the rare White Rhini. The landscape itself made the placement appealing. Little did we know what awaited us. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after dropping several other volunteers off at their placements. After seeing their surroundings then pulling into our own we had reached the pinnacle of our excitement. Little did we know what the next few days would look like. That night after an unsuccessful scouting mission through town (where within 15 minutes we bought 5 liter containers of water) we returned back to the apartment where we finally met our host family. We are staying with Pastor Anthony, his wife, two daughters, and two people of indeterminate relation. The kids are 1 and 4 and enjoy a good cry. Ha but really they are awesome people doing a lot of great work in the community. So far the time spent with them listening to stories and such during dinner has been the highlight of each day. The pastor told us on Sunday night about our placements for the coming weeks and the more he talked the more our excitement grew. It sounded like we would be doing real beneficial work. Normally during the week Carl and I will be working with a Voluntary Counseling and Testing Clinic (VCT) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and at a hospital with the Red Cross on Tuesday and Thursday. This week would be different and we would be working with the Red Cross on monday as well.

After two days working with the Kenyan Red Cross I can only hope our days become more exciting. Yesterday we had to report for an "orientation" that lasted all of twenty minutes and through it we ascertained nothing more about our work then we knew before but that could have been because of the freakishly loud TV blaring Kenyan soap operas in our ears. Not the day we had anticipated.

Today offered a little more promise as we were to report to the hospital. After another orientation meant to acquaint us with the geospatial location of each ward on the hospitals campus we recieved our days assignment: making large pieces of cotton into cotton balls and cutting up and intricately folding gauze. It's hard to judge our actual effectiveness from today. What should we have accomplished and how much impact did it have? I don't actually know and it's kind of frustrating. We want to help anyway we can and don't mind most tasks but today felt like busy work. It felt like they didn't know how else to use us but didn't want to ask. I'm optimistic this will change and I'm hopeful that things will be different tomorrow at the VCT at the Free Area Health Center.

Thanks for reading

Dan

On Nature and Being

Musings from a few days back...

In our modern society few things remain that leave us feeling small and insignificant. As I gaze up at the mountains dotting the northern Tanzanian landscape with peaks hidden behind the delicate puff of a cloud I can't help but feel just that. We're on a road cut through nature. A natural world that has created things more beautiful than any human being could accurately capture or reproduce. I think back to last week as I watched the Zambezi River spill over a cliff setting one of the most spectacular scenes of the natural world. I think of the double rainbows created by the play of light off the mist that permeated the air around them. Such beauty is foreign to our ways of life. Seeing them reminds us or atleast me of my insignificance in the grand scheme of things. It's comforting though in a way. The clouds will continue to cover mountains without admiration, the river would continue to run without our need of it, and the rainbow would not relinquish an ounce of its beauty if no one watched. So to I will continue on, so will we all continue on regardless of our apparent importance or impact. But there's more to it. Unlike the river, the rainbow, or the mountain, our time here is fleeting. Nature reminds me that regardless of who sees, who knows, or who appreciates I should continue to be who I am in pursuit of who I am to become. Nature doesn't change for anyone but itself, nor should we. 

The 60 hour journey or The uncertainty of African transport

10:30 PM Bus to Lusaka leaves from Victoria Falls
12:30 AM Truck breaks down in the road, dedides the best course of action would be to block most of the road. Other truckers agree that this is a worthwhile idea and begin parking their trucks in the road. The six members from our bus company riding with us decided to leave the bus and take care of the problem. Ten minutes later road clear. We're off.
4:30 AM Arrive in Lusaka on time. The first bus we've been on that has been on time. Meet a British student headed for the same train in Kapiri as us.
5:20 AM A first in all of Africa, the bus leaves ten minutes early!
7.20 AM The bus stops for a bathroom break in an unknown city. We're charged 1000 Kwacha (about 20 cents) when leaving the restroom. Realize that taking money from people after they use the bathroom is one of the worst jobs.
8:30 AM Wake up in Kapiri. Is more of a small town then a city. We catch a cab to the train station and it immediately turns down a dirt road. Didn't know what to think. Arrive at train station to find they won't be selling tickets until 9.
9:00 AM Not selling tickets yet.... not surprised they are on African time. (Besides who arrives for a 42hr train 5 hours early?)
9:45 AM Someone arrives to ticket counter. We find out they don't take USD and need to walk 1.5 km to town to use an atm.
10:45 AM Have secured a second class train ticket with our new British friend Josh.
12:45 PM After grabbing food from town return to find some of our fellow passengers have been upgraded to first class which we were told was full.
01:40 PM After a terribly innefficient process we get upped to first class, a four bed sleeper car.
02:00 PM Our train departs on time. That's a good sign right? We're joined by a Swiss man who resides in Kenya.

First full day of the train ride was relaxing. Slept about twelve hours, drank a few beers in the bar car, and had several great conversations with people from all over Africa and Europe. The food left some to be desired. For lunch and dinner you had the same two choices meat or chicken with either rice or ugali (corn meal).

02:00 PM (5/26) Cross the Tanzanian border. US citizens charged double the European visa price. By now the food on the train has gotten old. But the train overall is relaxing. We buy a pineapple for about 70 cents through the window.

<p>5:15 PM Train pulls into Mbeya where we are informally informed that the train won't move again until 08:00 AM due to some kind of accident on the track. </p>

This doesn't bother us too bad. We've planned for delays and have a few days to work with. We head into town to grab some food and some beers. It was more or less a large African style rest stop on the highway between Zambia and Dar es Salaam. It became quite obvious that not many white people go exploring around here. We had trouble at first finding a place that didnt look as if it would make us ill. We settled on the Safari Inn and ate a couple of plates of this local Tanzanian dish that's a mix of fried potatoes and scrambled eggs. I can't accurately describe just how greasy it was but it sure beat the food on the train. After changing and cleaning up a bit we ended up in a local bar with some live music. What an experience! Carl and I sat back in a corner with our British friend Josh and Swiss friend Mickey taking it all in. We head back to the train later in the evening hoping the train starts moving before we awake.

08:15 AM Wake up on the train and it's still in the station with no engine attached. Get out to investigate to find out from the station master it doesn't plan to leave until 14:00. Again its late and leaves at 14:30.

Spent the day wandering about the station making friends with the people sitting around. I settled a dispute between two old guys who couldn't decide if I worked for the train company or was a passenger. Spent an hour or so talking US & World politics with the well dressed Tanzanian station manager and a young south african climber headed to mount kenya.

18:00 The suns setting on Sunday, our fourth day of travel and the train stops again. This time in the middle of nowhere. We won't move again until morning.

09:00 It's monday morning. We've been travelling since Thursday night at 10:30.... that makes about 84 hours to cover about two thirds a distance that can be driven in 40 hours. The train leaves and we're told 17 hours remain making the total trip over 100 hours. We'll see if this ends up being the case.

11:00 We still have the pineapple we bought two maybe three days ago. We also have a machette. The two pair nicely. It was very enjoyable.

02:30 Stop at a bigger station. We're all very hungry at this point so we grab our stuff, jump off the train, and head towards the crowd of people selling food. I bought this mixture of french fries and eggs served ever so elegantly in a black plastic bag. I also got some oranges, some chips, and a small loaf of bread. I maybe spent $3.

When I crossed into Tanzania on Friday I changed only $20. After three days worth of meals and beers I still have about $7. I could get used to that. Additionally the trains delay has saved us the cost of two nights accomodation in Dar es Salaam.

The night was largely uneventful. We ate more, talked more, and tried to figure out our next moves.

06:00 Wake up early because the last few hours of the train ride go through a game reserve. As the sun rose we thought we had gone through the reserve during the night but soon began to see gazelle, impala, giraffes, zebras, and even a few monkeys.

10:30 Arrive in the station at Dar es Salaam. This stage of our journey has finally ended. I'm thankful for the experience. It forced me into a situation where I needed to exercise the patience, optimism, and calmness in the face of uncertainty that I have been working on of late. Getting worked up and angry would have been too easy at too many points in this journey and would have accomplished nothing positive.

Now I hope this didn't discourage anyone from potentially riding this train. It's not everyday that an accident occurs on the tracks and thus of late a delay such as the one we incurred is an exception and not the rule. I can honestly say that I would take this train again if the opportunity arose and would definitely recommend it.

-Dan

Victoria Falls

<p>"I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not Happy" Ernest Hemingway</p>
<p>What an incredible place. Nature has the unique ability of removing one from themself and extending them into infinity if even for a moment. As I viewed the Falls today from above on a microlight I couldn't help but reflect on my life thus far. An incredible feeling of satisfaction came over me. I felt content. But the feeling was fleeting. As I watched the mighty waters of the Zambezi tumble over the edge and continue its journey to the Indian Ocean the satisfaction that I felt left. Just as the waters of the Zambezi must continue their journey so too must I. One cannot remain content when they reach a precipice because lurking on the other side could be a steep drop. So it goes. As I think about my own journey to this point I'm reminded of waterfall moments, ones where the top of the world seemed within reach only to be snatched away by the sheer current of life. And just as a river running over a cliff we must continue on; I must continue on.

And so must our journey. Tonight begins with a 10 hour bus ride to Kapiri Mposhi where we will catch a 42hour train ride to Dar es Salaam. We'll be in Kenya in a week.

Thanks for reading. Expect several more posts about the falls, our travels, and interactions after a couple day hiatus.

-Dan

A bus through Zim

We got into Bulawayo, Zimbabwe last night around 10 and didn't spend much time there. We slept at a very over priced three star hotel that seemed to have more employees then guests. Maybe its just the off season. With our time running short between now  and Friday (when we need to catch our final train to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from somewhere in the middle of Zambia) we decided to make the journey to Victoria Falls during the day by bus rather than on a 12+ hour overnight train. What a decision! Aside from being the only white people on the bus we also seem to be the only ones who didn't get the sack lunch memo. Someone around me is eating this stick of unnaturally pink meat that the package advertises as pork. It only smells awful if you both smell it and look at the same time. Aside from that its your typical bus ride. All the overhead space is full, there's a box full of chicks about two rows behind me, and did I mention the bus had a boot on its tire when we got on? Additionally it's one of those buses with five seats across instead of four leaving a very narrow aisle and narrow seats. While on the topic of narrow, whoever built the roads in Zimbabwe didn't think to measure the width of two cars. As two large vehicles approach each other they flash their lights indicating who gets to keep both sides of wheels on pavement. It's pretty artfully done. Our bus has been getting the right of way a lot this ride, presumably because it's travelling somewhat over its alotted speed. Because this post has just been a loosely constructed ramble I'm going to change topics right here. Scratch that same topic. As I was ending that last sentence the bus slowed to a stop outside a school and ten people got on. The bus before this was full and now had some new arrivals. As I write this fifteen minutes after them getting on only one remains standing. Somehow everyone else found a seat. Several narrow three seat rows in the back now have four people.

It should be noted here that since the collapse of the Zimbabwean currency due to hyper inflation in 2008 everyone here uses the US dollar. Our hotel, street vendors, the bus driver, they all rely on this completely arbitrary idea of what a dollar is worth. As a Zimbabwean on our bus yesterday pointed out people here live day to day. They make enough money in a day to get through tomorrow but not next month or even next week. The prices are set accordingly. With this country being as poor as it is you wouldn't expect prices to be high but they are. The import tariffs here for goods like electronics that have no national competition are about 40%. For food stuffs coming from abroad its between 10% and 20%. What effect does this have on an economy that produces very little of its own? I can't help but wonder how little the economy here has changed since the currency collapsed. People no longer need a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf a bread (that was a real thing, I substantiated it with two Zimbabweans yesterday) but are they merely restarting a cycle of inflation or is the Mugabe regime making real beneficial economic changes?

What an intriguing and perplexing journey this is. I wish I could spend more time in this country discovering what it has to offer, where it falls short, and how its getting better.

We're about an hour away from Victoria Falls as I finish this. I'm beyond excited to see one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Expect pictures and maybe even a video once I get some solid internet.

That was really long. My apologies if you made it this far. Thanks for reading.

-Dan

When are we?

I'm lost in time. A week ago I started driving to Erie from Texas, on Thursday Karl and I took a greyhound to Toronto, on Friday a flight to Amsterdam, and on Saturday one to Johanesburg. Now today, Monday, we find ourselves on a bus headed towards Zimbabwe and another bus awaits us tomorrow to take us to Victoria Falls. The early onset of the darkness in the southern hemisphere this time of year doesnt help one orient themselves. Its 6:10 and black as night outside our bus. It has been a constant struggle between the reality of the day and my own circadian rhythm. I've slept one full night since thursday. My body doesn't know when it is and I really don't either. It certainly makes things interesting not knowing a very basic piece of information. I never realized how much of day to day life is based on when until I got lost in time.

Away We Go

Well its about that time. Karl and I are headed towards our first border crossing in Canada. After that something like 14 more await us. Its surreal how quickly this came up on us but the timing somehow seems right. We've both just closed two large meaningful chapters in our lives and now find ourselves in the ever so formative liminality that comes in the midst of waiting. We're both waiting for the future to come upon us and for what it holds but the process from here to there is uncertain. That uncertainty holds unlimited potential, within it anything can happen. Thats what this trip is about. Regardless of our careful planning (or lack thereof) the whole of the journey represents uncertainty and our existence within it. Its exciting yet terrifying but has such a vast potential for adventure and formation. The journey beckons us forward. Away we go.

 We're glad you're following us around. We'll keep you updated on our whereabouts and experiences and feel free to leave us some comments or whatever.