Winter Break-Tanzania AFRICA

December 17, 2013 - January 2, 2014

 

 

"This is where my spirit had always been.  Where my body had never set foot,

but where all of me belonged."

-Robert Vavra

 

Mt. Kilimanjaro-early morning-taken from the front of our tent

 



I copied the quote above from a book I was browsing through in the the lobby of The Olasiti Lodge, where we stayed when we first arrived in Arusha, Tanzania.  The quote captures the feeling for people like us who had been dreaming of going to Africa for a long time.

We were fortunate to have such a long winter break from school so that we could spend 16 days on this amazing adventure.  It was more than just a safari.  Our guides, Kombe "Goodluck" and Shedaffa "Francis", made sure that we experienced more than just wildlife by providing opportunities for us to interact with the people and everyday life in Tanzania. 

We were there during the short rainy season, which meant we had rain occasionally for brief periods of time.  Usually just long enough to wet the ground and settle the dust, but these afternoon showers during the months of November and December were also enough to create a very green landscape, especially in the Serengeti.  Most of the time, however, we had sunshine and blue skies with temperatures in the upper 70s to mid 80s. 

The following pictures are just a sample of the over 3,000 photos we shot.  Just when we thought we had seen our fill of elephants or zebra, we would see them again in better lighting, or up close, or behaving differently than we had seen them before.  We were up most mornings at 5 or 5:30 for an early morning game drive.  We would return to camp in time for lunch, take a 3-4 hour siesta, and then go out again in the late afternoon.  The game viewing seemed to get better and better every day, ending the last day with the long awaited rhino sighting- a mother and her
baby!

Our Maasai guide, Marco, was with us for the first three days at a camp near Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Most of the tented sights looked like this: a large canvas tent covered with a thatched roof.  Believe it or not they also had flush toilets and showers in the back behind that wooden screen.  Below is a picture of the inside. Not too shabby...it's "glamping", not camping!  And the service was phenomenal-they even turned down our beds at night.

 

 
We were greeted back at camp to cool, wet washcloths to wipe the dust from our grimy hands and faces.

"Learning and Discovery"

We heard Kombe use the phrase "learning and discovery" a lot.  He would say, "It's time for some learning and discovery!", and then gather us together to either have a mini lesson on wildlife or the history of Tanzania, OR take us out on some crazy excursion to discover life in Tanzania.  One afternoon, while we were still in Arusha, he took us to a local restaurant and pub for some grilled goat and banana beer.  We even rode the public transportation (a very crowded minibus).

 

 

 

Christmas Day

We started Christmas morning with a big breakfast, which included a large Ukrainian chocolate bar big enough for everyone in our group to have a square!  Santa must have stuck it in my bag when I wasn't looking.  I was glad I packed my Santa hat to go with the rest of the Christmas decorations we found decking the halls at the campsites.

 

 

After breakfast we visited a family who taught us how to grind maize and weave baskets.  The kids were so cute!  I was glad that Santa also packed a bag of gummy bears in my luggage.  They were a big hit!

Later we visited a Maasai village for more lessons.  We were dressed in traditional garb and then expected to participate in the singing, dancing, and chores.

 

 

 

Christmas afternoon we drove to the town of Karatu and checked in at the Tloma Lodge, a beautiful resort/farm tucked away in the hills near the Ngorongoro Crater.  We passed several "shops" like the one pictured below on our way to Karatu.

 

Oops!  Hakuna matata, we were on our way in no time!

Our camp in the Serengeti.  It was the most rustic of them all, but still quite comfortable.  And once again, the service was impeccable!

 

At another village, the men were put to work!! Jay tossed and stacked several handmade bricks before the owner of the brick factory told him he could stop.

Later, at the owners house, we dressed up (again) and ate lunch with him and his family. 

 

 

Before we left Karatu we visited a local primary school.  Below is a picture of my reading buddy, Patrick.  It was a great visit; the children were so kind and happy.



 

 

 

 

 

 

The Animals!

Beautiful Tanzania

This is how close we were to the animals!   This lioness found shade in the shadow of our truck and looked very annoyed when we drove away.

 

 

 

 

 

It truly was "the trip of a lifetime".  We couldn't have asked for more.  We had great travelling companions, excellent guides, good food, comfortable lodging, and awesome animals, all in one spectacular setting...Tanzania, AFRICA.

NYU-Abu Dhabi

Guidance Counselor Trip to NYU-Abu Dhabi

December 5-8, 2013

I know that many of you are waiting to see and hear about our Winter Break trip to Africa, but in order to keep our experiences in chronological order, I am going to post some pictures and information from my visit to the New York University campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

Sometime around the middle of November, Lubov, the NYU-Abu Dhabi Global Outreach Officer for Russia and Eurasia called me and asked if I would like to attend a special event for guidance counselors in Abu Dhabi to see the NYU campus and find out more about their programs and vision for global education.  She explained that the event was free AND all transportation and hotel costs would be covered as well.  How could I say no??  I'll admit that I was a bit nervous at first because I had never traveled by myself to another country, but all of the arrangements were made for me; I just had to find my own transportation to and from the airport in Kiev.  It turned out to be a wonderful experience.  The trip was flawless, the university is amazing, and I would love to go back to the UAE again.  It is a fascinating and beautiful country.

 My plane landed in Dubai.  This is a picture of the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world, taken through the back window of my cab as we passed it on the way to Abu Dhabi.  (interesting note: Dubai is the other city where Jay and I were offered jobs last year at the job fair in Atlanta. While the offer was tempting, and now after seeing it, still very attractive, I think we made the right decision when we chose Ukraine.)

 NYU-Abu Dhabi is a new institution.  In fact, they will graduate their first class this May.  This downtown location is temporary.  Next year they will move to a beautiful new campus on Saadiyat Island, just off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the Arab Sea.

 The view from my hotel window.

 We counselors were visiting at the same time as some perspective students who were also there by invitation.  They took all of us by bus into the desert for a dinner under the stars.

 I rode a camel...

 drank Arabic coffee (with cardamom)...

got a henna tattoo...

and ate a delicious meal with counselors from all over the world!

This is our Russia and Eurasia group.

The next day we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  Opulent only begins to describe it!

Our tour guide, Ali, was funny, flirtatious, and very informative.

The next evening we had our farewell dinner at the Emirates Palace Hotel.  NYU-Abu Dhabi took "wining and dining" to a whole new level!  Since we were in a Muslim country there was not a lot of wining, but we ate very well.  Even though the three days felt like a vacation, we were there on business, so we also attended several sessions throughout the days regarding the application/admissions process, academics, and student housing.  In addition, we heard from the vice chancellor of NYU-Abu Dhabi and the president of NYU.  We also attended a panel discussion with current students.  I was also able to meet and gain some insight from a Kyiv International School graduate, Vasily, during lunchtime on our first day. This is Vasily's first year at NYU-Abu Dhabi.

These are the treasures I brought back with me: a leather camel, chocolate covered dates, coffee with cardamom, spices, and a miniature dallah.

Fall Break: Part 3 (and last)-Sorrento

Wow!

It's December 1 and I'm finally posting the last part of our Fall break to Italy.  December 1- that means we've been in Ukraine for 4 months now.  The time seems to be going by quickly.  In just two more weeks we will be on Winter Break from December 14 until January 7!  More travelling is planned for December.  I figured out this morning that I will only have to tolerate the cold weather for 11 days this month.  The other 20 days will be spent much closer to the equator; 4 in Abu Dhabi and 16 in Tanzania.  But more about those adventures later... Here's the rest of our trip to Italy...which, by the way, was also warm and sunny.  Yay!

Sorrento, Italy

We left Rome and headed south on a fast train to Naples.  Fast really means fast!  We were moving along the Italian countryside at 300 km/hour (about 186 mph)!!  The train was sleek and clean and comfortable; very different from the next train ride we would take to get from Naples to Sorrento!  What we hadn't thought about was the fact that we would be switching trains during "rush hour".  The second train we took was a commuter train that was absolutely packed with people and stopped at least 20 times before we arrived in Sorrento.  Of course Sorrento was also the final stop for the train, so the passenger manifest did start to decrease the closer we got to Sorrento, making the ride much more comfortable.  I think I was finally able to sit down at about stop #17.

This was one of the stops on the way to Sorrento.  We were on a bridge across from the one you see in the picture.  Weird place for a stop, right?

There were lemon groves everywhere!  This one was so full of trees and lemons, they were pushing their way through the fence.  

One of the days in Sorrento we took a ferry to the Island of Capri.  This is a view of the harbor in Sorrento as we walked down to it.  It was a long way down...

and a lot of steps!

 

 

Capri

Some pictures of the island as we approached it from the water.

Of course we had to buy tickets to see The Blue Grotto.  It was another short boat ride around the island and then a small rowboat ride into the cave, but it was worth it.  It is so touristy and silly, but it's just one of those things you have to do just to say you did it.

I think we had the only red-headed, freckled Italian in all of Italy rowing our boat into the Blue Grotto.  (That's him on the far left of the picture)  There were several rowboats going in and out of the cave manned by these "singing captains".  Later, I got to thinking that Marco, our singing captain, reminded me of Danny Bonaduce (is that an Italian name?) from the Partridge Family.  Now that I think about it again, maybe red hair is not that uncommon in parts of Italy-Mario Batali also has red hair and freckles...What do I know?  I'm still a bit naive, if not ignorant, about most of the world.  I'm trying to change that!   

It really was BLUE!

 

 

After our short excursion to the grotto, we spent some time touring the rest of the island.  The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery.

We rode the funicular from the marina up to the main streets in town.

Unfortunately we didn't have our bathing suits, but I did roll up my "Capri" pants and wade into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Back at our hotel in Sorrento that evening we sat out on the roof-top bar looking at Mt. Vesuvius, the reason for the next tourist stop in Italy:

Pompeii

Another evening on the rooftop before heading out to dinner...

and a final look at the amazing coastline of Sorrento. 

 

 

After three days in Sorrento we returned to Rome to catch our flight back to Kiev. As we boarded the plane, I recognized some of the passengers as the same ones we rode with before.  It was a much more sober flight than the one to Rome.  I guess all of us were quietly reminiscing about our week in Italy and dreaming of the day we might return again.

Fall Break: Part 2-Vatican City



 

The Vatican

We spent most of the day on Monday (October 21) touring Vatican City.  First, we went into the main square outside of St. Peter's Basilica (above).  We arrived around 10am and the place was packed with people.  We couldn't even find the end of the line waiting to go inside the church.  So we decided to visit the museums instead.  Luckily, we were advised to purchase our tickets on line before we left Ukraine because the ticket line for the museums, including The Sistine Chapel, wrapped around the block outside The Vatican.  Instead, we walked directly into the museum lobby, paid for the audio headsets, and started our self-guided tour starting in the courtyard seen below.



 

 The Pinecone Courtyard-The Vatican Museums

 A hall of sculptures inside the Vatican Museums

 A young artist drawing one of the statues

 Looking back up the spiral staircase we just descended, inside the museum

Of course seeing Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was a highlight, but also a bit of a letdown.  There were so many people packed into the chapel, being herded like cattle from one end to the other,  that it was difficult to stop and appreciate the wonder and beauty of being there.  For us, the inside of St. Peter's was more awe-inspiring.

By the time we returned to the square, the mob of people had dispersed and we were inside St. Peter's in less than 10 minutes.  Our timing for the day couldn't have been better!

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

 One of several Catholic masses taking place inside the Basilica.  I really wanted to take communion, but I was afraid of what would happen if it was discovered that I'm not Catholic.  I guess if I'm going to be an "educator on the edge" I need to start taking my chances. 

 Back outside workers were setting up for an event which we assumed would include The Pope.  The next night we found out we were right. There was a news report on TV about it but of course it was in Italian so we didn't really know exactly what had taken place.  All we know is that we missed "him" by one day!

Vatican Guards

 

 

We left Vatican City around 3 o'clock and made our way back to our room, stopping at a cafe along the way for an afternoon snack.  It was our last day in Rome so we wanted to go out later for a nice dinner and stay up late.  As it turned out, dinner was great, but we couldn't find the energy to stay up late.  Besides, we had to check out early the next morning and catch the train to Sorrento.