Just your typical Saturday afternoon...

Yesterday, B and I went to Dogodogo to watch some of the boys I teach play soccer. We thought we could just drive to the field but quickly found out the field was a stroll through a very poor village. As we walked, chickens darted between our legs, we passed by concrete one-room homes, and finally crossed a make-shift bridge (i.e. tree log) we found our way onto the field. A swarm of little children gathered around us, about 60 kids all under the age of six, gaping at us. They were sooooo cute, wherever we went, the 60+ children followed even if it was to move to another side of the field.

walking through the village to the soccer field

all the little kids wanted to be in the picture

some of my kids on the soccer team

The soccer game was great, my boys played very well and won :) The game setup was surprisingly organized, with speakers set up blaring on the right side of the field, a very enthusiastic announcer, and the boys had jerseys that matched! Every time there was a goal (or even a foul), the announcer would scream "GOAL!" and a million little kids would rush the field, arms failing, screaming at the top of their little lungs.

GOAL!!! Notice the kid doing a kart wheel

At one point, there was a herd of goats crossing the field but the game wasn't even stopped. One of the goats got stuck and Baran went to the rescue. The goat was stubborn and kept trying to go forward, only entangling himself more. One little kid tried to help by yanking on the tail of the goat. B carefully detangled the goat and off it ran across the field. You know just another soccer game, with goats running across the field. Typical for the FIFA Confederation Cup and the World Cup too. :P

Goat stuck in the net

The kids were so cute. I danced with the little ones, and at one point there was one or more little hands holding onto each one of my fingers. It was a great day. :)

with a few of my students :)

Shikamu! Marahaba!

Last week I started volunteering at Dogodogo. (http://www.dogodogocentre.org/) After meeting with the director last Tuesday, he took me to the center in Kigogo, a poorer suburb of Dar es Salaam. The center has 60 street kids (all boys) from the ages of 7-18 years old. These boys have had hard lives, living on the street for many years before being able to come live in the orphanage. Many have had parent(s) pass away or suffered from extreme poverty, forcing them to fend for themselves. The orphanage is not only a home, but also provides support for schooling, extracurricular activities, and vocational training. I thought I would maybe tutor kids one on one but then the coordinator and I couldn't communicate very well in his broken english and my horrible swahili. I asked him to show me the books I would use to teach and next thing I know, he's sitting me down at a table in the dining area and gathering about 20 boys for me to meet that I would be teaching.

The boys are very sweet, and some are very inquisitive. On Day 1, one boy asked a million questions from how fast is Jupiter's orbit is to when did the U.S. gain independence to where is Jamaica to when did Tupac Shakur die. I've never taught a class before so this is all new to me. I was pretty intimidated to teach a group of boys, all who are taller and much tougher than me. But they are so hungry to learn. I've never seen such enthusiam in classes when I was growing up. It's incredible, these boys have so little in terms of material goods, experienced such difficulties that children should never experience so young, and they are very happy children.

I am now teaching them math and english daily and I love it :)


p.s. "Shikamu" is a greeting said to elders and means "I kiss your feet". "Marahaba" is what the elders say back to the younger person, and it literally means "It tickles my feet." :)

Gettin’ Crabby With It

After a long flight from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Split, Croatia to Dusseldorf, Germany to Cairo, Egypt, I have finally made it to Tanzania!! Baran lives in the nice area of Dar es Salaam called Oyster Bay. The neighborhood is nice but it feels like a safari drive to his apartment as the roads are unpaved and rocky. The potholes are so large, small cars are swallowed completely.

My first week was pretty typical. Monday Baran took off and we went to Bongoyo Island. This small island was very quiet with a few thatch umbrellas and one small “restaurant”, which served the best crab we have ever had. The crab was so juicy and fresh, with tons of meat I thought I had died and gone to heaven. If you grew up in the Lee family, you know how to eat crab. :)

Crab + Chips + Serengeti Premium Beer = A Good Time

The great thing about this island was there was about 5 people total on the island so it felt almost deserted. The bad thing about a deserted island is there are no normal bathrooms besides a single outhouse deep in the jungle. As I set off to find the bathroom, I heard a noise up in the trees. I figured it was a bird and kept walking down the small dirt path. Suddenly dropping from the sky, a giant 20 lb mouse with huge ears landed in front of me. With wide eyes, we stared at each other shocked for what felt like an eternity and then I tried to scream but nothing but a squeak came out, no pun intended. I ran out of the woods faster than that guy Bolt from Jamaica! After that, I never went to the bathroom alone. Lesson learned: Always make Baran go first when walking through the woods.

Bongoyo Island

Our Mediterranean vacation in Italy and Croatia was so much fun. Our days were filled with wonderful sites, funny inside jokes, and gelatos and cappuccinos galore. In Italy, we spent two days in Venice and two days in Florence. We visited most of the major sites in both cities. In Venice, we saw St. Marco’s square and walked along the Grand Canal. In Florence, we saw the Old Bridge, big church, and Boboli Gardens.
Here are just a few highlights of our trip…:) Will send pics out later!

ITALY
Venice
1) Venice has water taxis?
After a hectic departure from NYC to say the least, I arrived in Venice. I took a taxi to the bus station and was informed that my hotel was a mere 15 minutes walking distance away. Carrying my 19 kilo suitcase filled 3 months supply of clothes and shoes with my 9 kilo backpack strapped on my back, I trekked over little bridges all over Venice to my hotel. What was supposed to be 15 minutes turned into a back-breaking sweaty 65 minutes. I went to the front desk with newly calloused hands to check-in, and the innkeeper asked if I took a water taxi. Apparently, Venice is a city built on water.

2) Venice really is flooding.
I walked to St. Marco’s square sans my luggage on the first night and was able to watch the square flood with water.
People were taking off their shoes and hiking up their pants to walk and play in the water. The reflection of St. Marco Cathedral in the water was beautiful. I walked back to Square and had my first Italian meal of a delicious prosciutto sandwich and a glass of crisp white wine.


3) Venice is a city filled with hand-holding couples.
I was so happy to see Janet and Carrie. They arrived after a nightmare flying ordeal and the only way to begin to heal the pain can be summed up in one word: gelato. :P Seeing Venice with your good friends is much better than seeing Venice alone.

Florence
1) All Asians look alike. :P
When we arrived in Florence, we checked into the Grand Hotel. This beautiful hotel was very ornate and also very strict on the number of people per room. Our reservations were for two and an extra person would cost an arm, leg, and your firstborn. So we decided that Carrie and I would become the same person. Because the lobby with the front desk was so small and the only way to enter, we needed a foolproof plan. Like a scene from a spy thriller, we walked out individually or in pairs either wearing sunglasses or a giant sun hat or both. But the genius of this plan was walking back in, Carrie and I switched clothes and then she went in first. If they noticed her, she hung a red towel from our balcony window. If they didn’t notice her, she hung white. Red meant wait 30 minutes to enter, white meant come on in. Being an undercover agent is exhausting.

2) We work for National Geographic, thank you very much.
Throughout Italy and Croatia, we each had a giant SLR and Janet lugged around her tripod. We learned very quickly that most people do not know how to work an SLR so asking a stranger to take a picture would not suffice. Janet was our photographer, I was the production assistant (i.e. moving furniture, holding back curtains, etc), and Carrie and Erica were the models. A big offense – stepping in front of the tripod when we’re taking a group picture. Here we are at Boboli Garden…
Before:

(look at Janet's face hehe)

After:

CROATIA

The majority of our vacation was in Croatia and I loved every part of it. The people were warm, the food delicious, and the scenery was amazing. We visited 7 towns in 10 days including Zadar, Plitvice Park, Split, Bol, Hvar, Dubrovnik, and one day in the country, Montenegro.

1) Pesh pesh pesh pesh…
After taking an overnight ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia, we finally arrived. After picking up our rental car, we drove to Zadar to pick up the 4th musketeer, Erica. The rental guy said you can’t miss Rt. 1, so easy. Well apparently you CAN miss Rt. 1 if the exit to it is closed! We ended up driving around in some weird Croatian autopark. Without a soul in sight, we finally tracked down this burly man. Luckily for us, he spoke zero English but attempted to give us directions. Using his hand to gesture, similar to the “wave” dance, he gave us clear directions. It sounded like “pesh pesh… pesh pesh pesh…pesh”. We started cracking up from the whole absurdity of the situation. When he was done, he saw the bewildered looks on our faces and decided to lead us with his car out of the autopark and back onto the highway. Our Croatian hero. J Later we learned that the word he was using was probably “pragesh”, meaning to pass, so he was probably saying “pass this, pass that…”

2) Hiking in flip flops is not the brightest idea.
Plitvice Park was breath taking. The lakes were a vibrant turquoise color against the backdrop of green hills and waterfalls. No wonder it was named a World Heritage site! I assumed this park was small and just a few paved trails. So we all wore flip flops, leaving my hiking boots and running shoes at the hotel. Then we get to the entrance and there are people with hard core hiking boots, granted most were in their 40s+. I figured old people in hiking boots is the equivalent of young people in flip flops. My theory was nullified by hour five of our hike. :P


3) Hearing men singing in perfect acapella over beers is pure bliss.
On Day 3 of our Croatia trip, we were walking back from dinner in this small fishing town called Bol when we heard beautiful music. Gelato in hand (of course), we passed an outdoor restaurant and heard the most exquisite music I have ever heard in my life. These Croatian men were sitting at a table outside, singing melancholy old songs in multi-part harmony as they drank their beer. It was magical.

4) “I’m on a boat! Never thought I’d be on a boat” – Andy Samberg, T-Pain
While we were in Hvar, a gorgeous town on the water, we decided to rent a large speed boat and sail to the caves, some small islands, and swim in a lagoon. The most amazing cave was called the Blue Cave. After transferring from our speed boat to a small dingy, we had to wait till the water subsided some to enter the incredibly small hole of the Blue Cave. We realized the hole was so small, if you were not laying on the floor of the dingy, you’d literally lose your head. Once we entered, it was dark and from below, you suddenly saw that the water was the brightest blue lit from below. I have never seen anything like it. Amazing.

5) Three girls pushing a car can be a faster way to back up a car than pressing a button to reverse.
Renting a new car in Dubrovnik to drive to Montenegro turned out to be a quite a challenge. After giving us the smallest manual car possible to fit 4 people, the rental lady ran off. After driving for 30 minutes, I decided to pull over at what I thought was a gas station. Nope, it was the border crossing and a no-enter exit as well, great. I tried to reverse but after 10 minutes of trying to push the gear into R, no luck. So my tiny friends jumped out of the car and pushed the car into reverse. Later we pulled over to a real gas station and asked the attendant to try to reverse. Even he could not figure it out! Finally he asked a local man to help, he explained to me in Croatian there was a button you lift to reverse. Who knew? Lesson learned, if you cannot reverse, look for a button.

6) “Save it for the animals!” - Justine
Our last few days we spent in Dubrovnik at this great hotel, with a cliffside beach, pool, and bar. After our busy itinerary, this was a nice break and we took full advantage of it from lying around all day to sneaking food back from the huge hotel breakfast buffet as if we were starving college students. From the day we arrived, there were these two little kittens and their mom that were always lounging around the hotel. I decided to follow Justine’s motto and started feeding them my meals. At breakfast, I would grab a huge plate of bacon just for them. I decided to name them after some friends we met in Hvar. I got a few cold stares from the hotel staff. Here is my favorite little guy, Mishot.

Disclaimer: Don’t worry, Daddy. We were always safe! :)

Day #1: My Taj Mahal Postcard

Namaste :) After traveling from NYC to Mumbai, sleeping for 4 hours in a hotel, flying to Delhi and then a 5 hour car ride in crazy traffic, we arrived at the 7th wonder of the world...the Taj Mahal. The story of the Taj Mahal is that the Shah Jahan met Mumtaz Mahal in a market. She was selling sugars and while he was looking at the sugars, the wind blew and the cover on her face blew off only to reveal a beautiful woman. They fell in love and married, though she was the 3rd wife, she was the most beloved. She helped rule the kingdom with him. Before given birth to their 14th child, she made the Shah promise three things. First look after the children, two never marry again and three build a monument for her. That is the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal was beautiful, like a postcard. However inside, was pretty disappointing, mosques in Istanbul are more breathtaking inside. It was small and crowded, then someone puked which instantly permeated the entire Taj Mahal. Yay...But what I loved most about going to the Taj was the trip there. It was like being in a crazy NYC taxi cab for 5 hours and throw in monkeys, cows, camels, tractors, bus driving against traffic in the wrong lane, and the occasional political protests. B/c cows are sacred in Hinduism, they are free to roam and they roam EVERYWHERE. We saw freight trucks packed with women wearing colorful saris on a way to a wedding and everyone honks...the trucks even have a sign in the back that says "please honk". And seeing how 1/6 of the world's people live is eye opening. It is an incredible country.

The train ride back just as chaotic. There are many very poor people living there, small beggar children asking for food. Think Slumdog Millionaire. People walk on the train tracks looking for trash, climb onto packed trains w/o buying a ticket. We stick out so much in India...3 white girls + 1 asian girl = lots of people stopping us to take pictures with us.

Day #2: Delhi Belly

A guide took us to a few mosques including the biggest in India, monuments, and the spice market.The spice market was my favorite. Our guide took us through tiny passage ways, through old buildings to see the real India. And they have every spice imaginable - Elise would be in heaven well except for everyone was coughing, hacking, spitting, sneezing because the spices smell was so strong. I got sneezed on, I sneezed on other people - it was the noisiest place I have ever been. I kept laughing at all the noises and that would make me sneeze more! The old city is amazing - so much life, so many people per square kilometer. There are monkeys climbing on the wires, and scooters weaving in and out of packed market alley ways (like Taipei night markets but hundred times more crowded).

We took a crazy rickshaw ride through the market. It was fun but there were points where we ran over people's feets in these narrow alleys (this is not for the faint of heart). Every shop was literally 2x3 selling things from saris, baked goods, jewelry, etc. It was like a secret world that we would have never found had it not been for our trusty tour guide. After a long day, we went to the best Indian restaurant in Delhi called Bukhara. This was Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant during his presidency. And yes I ate with my hands...both of them. Whoops...





Day #3: Varanasi, the Holy City
Today we are going to Varanasi. Will update soon!

India Prep

Per Daddy Dang's request, I will blog about my travels and include some pictures of my adventures in India over the next two weeks. :) Stay tuned.