Somo

Wow, so much to talk about and so little time! Seems like the last month has flown by. To recap, I spent the last month on Pemba Island doing research on pesticide use by subsistence farmers. We (me and my study partner, Lauren) made a 3 page survey to give to farmers around Pemba to get an understanding of general demographics, pesticide use, and pesticide education and awareness. We also planned to do informational sessions with the farmers to help educate them about the affects of pesticides on both humans and the environment. We ended up getting 301 surveys filled out, held 4 informational training sessions and put up educational posters around the island in pesticide shops and on the farms. Lauren and I also bought some rubber boots, gloves and masks to give to the farmers for use during pesticide application. Now we just have to finish our paper!



(Our posters in the background!)



To make my life easier, I'm going to make a list of highlights of the last month:

- Visiting all of the farms (shambas) on Pemba. They are unbelievably beautiful and the people are so genuine and happy to talk to you. One of our favorite farmers, Fatuma, only had one eye and sent us home with 25 mangoes!

- Staying in the Hill View Inn with Manga, the tallest Zanzibari in the world!



(View from the Hill View during some political rally/party)

- Spending time with amazing people in Wete. These included our pseudo family (Chua, Mama, Aisha, Irshad, Raifa, Iptisan, Ibrahim and the pakas) who invited us over for all of the holidays, fed us endless amounts of cake and juice, and entertained us with dance parties (Irshad, who is two, is the best dancer in the world...so funny), our friend Mwana who worked at the fruitstand we bought produce from every day, Babu Hamisi who must have been a hundred years old and called us his granddaughters, and Juma, our translator/helper who was so helpful and so much fun.

- Spending time with our neighbor boys...not ashamed to admit that some of the best friends I've made in Tanzania have been under 10 years old! Our neighbor boys would come over religiously every morning and every evening to draw, dance, play on our computers and play with silly putty.



- Adventuring to the beach, 2 dala dalas and a 2 hour walk through the mud, but so worth it at the end. I think the most beautiful beach in the world is on Pemba Island, but don't tell anyone because it's perfect the way it is. The best night was during the full moon when we just sat on the beach and you could see everything because the moon was so big and bright. We even had shadows!



- Learning to cook our favorite Swahili meals from my host mama in Chake Chake - got to visit my host family from earlier this semester a few times and say hi to my kiddos there.



- Hanging out with the Pemba crew: Lauren, Abby, Kellie, Becky and Peter. Too much fun cooking for ourselves (who knew baked beans, guacamole and chapati tasted so good together?!) and going on adventures instead of doing work (don't worry we did work, too).

- Kanga shopping! Getting Christmas shopping done early this year!

- EVERYTHING. This last month was honestly one of the most fulfilling in my life and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people I have met and the beautiful places I have been able to visit. Asante sana!

If I've learned one thing, it's that: furaha yangu ni Pemba.

Asante sana, tutaonana sasa hivi!

- Salama

Samehani!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but very limited internet here (well there is an internet cafe but we have been too busy to make it here till now!) and it will likely be closed for the next week due to Eid al Haji, another Muslim holiday. Still, stay tuned! Tutaonana!

Tutaonana Baadaye!

The elections went over smoothly and everyone seems genuinely happy about the results. CCM won the presidency but CUF gets the vice presidency, which is the first time in 50 years or so that they've had any legitimate representation in the government. The whole town is decorated with colorful flags and string lights, and yesterday there were parades and parades of singing and cheering people of all ages throughout the town. It's a really exciting time to be here!

Headed back to Pemba Island early tomorrow morning for 4 weeks. We found an internet café there last time that seemed to be open sporadically, but no promises about the blog. We've just finished up all of our final essays, last minute independent study proposals, and a coral reef conservation plan, so now we've just got to get to work on our independent study projects themselves! It's going to be weird not seeing everyone for a whole MONTH, we've gotten so used to traveling around in a 16 person group! Really, really excited to get back to this project, though. I'll try to keep you all updated!