Ever since I adjusted to the time difference here I have been waking up before my alarm. Usually no more than 45-30 mins before I’m suppose to wake up, but always early. Today was no different and it’s a really nice way to start off. I lie in bed, listen to the birds, try and remember the Swahili words I learned yesterday, and contemplate checking email or reading before everyone else gets up. Checking email is pointless because everyone in the US is still asleep and will not have answered any of my messages, and facebook has not been working here for the past few days. Of course none of my homework will motivate me out of bed so by the time I manage to get out of bed I have 20 minutes or so before breakfast.
Classes today were a bit different. Instead of sitting in the classroom we had traveling lecture today. Everyone piled into the cruisers and we drove to the highest point in Kilimatembo (Elephant Hill) only a few km from Rhotia (the town we are living in). We sat up in this high bluff overlooking the entire valley from Lake Manyara all the way to the highlands of Ngorongoro. Here we had a combined lecture from our EP, WM, and WE (environmental policy, wildlife management, and wildlife ecology) professors. After this we made two much shorter stops. The first was where a seasonal river goes thru a tunnel under the tarmac road and a small riverine ecosystem has sprung up complete with a small population of monkeys, and the second was a curio stop run by local villagers. At both of these locations we looked at the impact of tourism on the environment especially how the wood (illegally carved for tourists) and water (restricted and redirected) change with the coming of the many tourists.
The afternoon was also different. We globalized tether ball. It is community service afternoon and we went back to the orphanage in Mtu wa Mbu (Mosquito River) and built a tether ball for the kids. I was in charge of making the cement while two of the guys labored away to create a two foot deep hole in the hard gravel ground. For the pole we brought a tall tree that had fallen down in camp and we tied a flat soccer ball onto a string. This project took all of six people while everyone else played with the kids, sang songs, drew pictures, and socialized. It has been a long week and everyone is feeling a bit tired. Tonight I sat by the fire and learned the words for flashlight, wood, and sang more Swahili songs with Boo-ra before watching The Departed with a few other students. Tomorrow is non-program day so we will get to unwind a bit.
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