Entry # 7
9:20pm
May 3rd, 2017
Arusha
VETA Hotel (Connected to the College campus) Lobby
We did a lot in the past two days.
Tuesday was spent touring a cultural information center / coffee farm, where we hiked up a huge hill (only a few people slipped in the mud on the way back down), passed by a local elementary school, and participated in the coffee making process from shelling beans to grinding them to brewing. The end product was delicious!
And, during our nightly dance practice with the Tanzanian students, we were asked to shake things up and teach them a traditional Canadian dance instead.
Caught off guard and obviously not thinking clearly, we found the Chicken Dance on YouTube and performed that for them.
The ensuing laughter and commotion as they joined us in the simple repetitious moves soon brought dozens of other students form throughout the college. And soon they were joining in as well, laughing and dancing and having great tiring time.
Then today we recorded interviews with two elders who both had a lot to say about the stories and traditions they would like to be documented and passed on to future generations.
I was so happy learning about their histories and culture and getting the chance to help document them.
We drank some amazing yet intensely sour varieties of honey, using these as our cups
The cultural center had so many interesting items and artifacts, each labeled. (Though this one I could have guessed without)
Hearing stories around the fire was quite captivating, up until we got rained on (again)
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