orientation

April 11, 2010

11:00 pm


I’m in love with Bagamoyo and I have only been here 24 hours. Today we visited the fish market, the Dr. David Livingstone Museum, Caravan Serai (where the slaves stayed before being sent to Zanzibar), the Catholic Church with a museum attached, and the Kaole Ruins. Since we arrived to Bagamoyo late last night we were not able to see the town so today was really awesome. This place is like nothing I have ever seen before. Clay houses, mud floors, people everywhere; maybe since today is Sunday people are not working and children are not in school. Little things we take for granted such as cutting the grass is done by a whacking at the grass with a long blade knife.
The food at the house is amazing. I found myself enjoying peas and carrots and I would not dare touch them at home. I do not foresee myself coming home looking smaller than when I left. Tonight after dinner all of the volunteers went to a local bar called Francesca’s and listened to live music performed outside of the bar. The Bar was just a hut that sold drinks and there was a sitting area on the lawn. The locals called white people “mzunga” which means “white person”, however when they say it they are meaning “foreigner” (it is not a sign of disrespect). The bar was 15 minutes away from our house and on our walk home the stars were so bright. They looked reachable.
Our house is taken care of and run by quite a few people. We have 2 housekeepers, 3 guards, 1 program manager, 1 country manager, 1 senior program manager, and 2 cooks. Our program manager, who led orientation, was saying how he wants to learn certain traits from us. For example, a volunteer in our group, Melissa, works at Google in San Francisco and he wants to learn how to use a search engine on is computer.
Tomorrow is the last day before we start work at our placements, mine being Bagamoyo District Hospital. During our last orientation day tomorrow we will get a tour of the hospital. I am really excited yet very anxious to see the equipment and resources I will be given.