Saturday, November 19, 2011
Lost Scriptures of EO
I found my blog document from my delirious plane typing. Posts and pictures will follow in the coming days.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A Lesson for the Swiss
We’ve determined the following (US time-Burundi time):
1 minute = 45 minutes
5 minutes = 30 minutes
2 hours = 4 hours
Riddle me this:
If Gitega and Songa are both 2 hours away from Bujumbura, and car A is headed from Songa at 2 PM and car B is headed from Gitega at 4 PM to meet in the center of Bujumbura, at what time will both cars meet?
Scroll down for the answer.
Answer: Some time (or, 5 or 6)
1 minute = 45 minutes
5 minutes = 30 minutes
2 hours = 4 hours
Riddle me this:
If Gitega and Songa are both 2 hours away from Bujumbura, and car A is headed from Songa at 2 PM and car B is headed from Gitega at 4 PM to meet in the center of Bujumbura, at what time will both cars meet?
Scroll down for the answer.
Answer: Some time (or, 5 or 6)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Long Days (not Day's) Journey into Night
We head home in about 4 hours. Due to our lack of internet over the last few days, we have not been able to post. I will finish typing everything and post the remaining upon our return to the USA. In case you're curious where we'll be - we begin in Bujumbura, Burundi; sit in Kigali, Rwanda for 1 hour; switch planes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; sit in Rome, Italy for 1 hour; have a 6 hour layover in Washington, DC; have a 2 hour layover in Kansas City, MO; land in Houston, TX around 10 PM; and finally pick up my dog and leave for Austin, TX on Monday. Ta da!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Preview of our beautiful children
It's Kelly's birthday on Friday, so the newest and youngest member at the orphanage, Dezi, decided to sing her a song.
They were playing a clapping game none of us could master (except for maybe Ros).
They were playing a clapping game none of us could master (except for maybe Ros).
A sobering look at Burundi
One of the things about Burundi that has been hard for us to understand is how lush and rich the landscape is, and yet, within that landscape exists extreme poverty. It’s almost hidden by the beauty of the country. Because it is a landlocked country, it is difficult for the country to export any of their natural resources (coffee & tea make up most of the GDP). Tourism could be their greatest resource, but the major issue is a lack of land. To put this in perspective, I’ll compare it to Maryland which is only slightly larger in area -
About 500,000 Burundian refugees are estimated to have returned between 2002-2009. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to return in the next 5 years increasing the demand for land purely for subsistence farming. It’s a tricky problem without an easy answer. Add to this, a 10% orphan population mostly due to HIV/AIDs and a high unemployment rate and you’ve got a whole mess of things to resolve.
If you’re bored/want to educate yourself a bit/like to click on things, here are the sources I used in reference to the above as well as some additional information.
General Facts & Information about Burundi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/by.html
Economic Outlook
http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/east-africa/burundi/
Migration Trends in Burundi (history of the country, refugee movement, and citizen movement)
http://mgsog.merit.unu.edu/ISacademie/docs/CR_burundi.pdf
Refugee Interviews
http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=16&ReportId=62541
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-31-4113265492_x.htm
About 500,000 Burundian refugees are estimated to have returned between 2002-2009. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to return in the next 5 years increasing the demand for land purely for subsistence farming. It’s a tricky problem without an easy answer. Add to this, a 10% orphan population mostly due to HIV/AIDs and a high unemployment rate and you’ve got a whole mess of things to resolve.
If you’re bored/want to educate yourself a bit/like to click on things, here are the sources I used in reference to the above as well as some additional information.
General Facts & Information about Burundi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/by.html
Economic Outlook
http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/east-africa/burundi/
Migration Trends in Burundi (history of the country, refugee movement, and citizen movement)
http://mgsog.merit.unu.edu/ISacademie/docs/CR_burundi.pdf
Refugee Interviews
http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=16&ReportId=62541
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-31-4113265492_x.htm
We’re so far in the future - we celebrate Independence Day July 1st
***This posting was originally typed for July 1st - names and dates have not been modified***
It’s Burundian Independence Day, and for those of you who shamefully do not know the history behind that (tsk tsk tsk) I will give you a quick lesson. And for those of you like my father who will remember this forever, here are the dates. (Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you people? I fear you’re the reason Jeopardy still exists)
1924 - Germany is defeated in WWI and surrenders East African territories to Belgium (modern day Burundi & Rwanda).
October 20, 1924 – This territory becomes a Belgian League of Nations called Ruanda-Urundi.
1940s – People get together, start talking, and powers begin to split.
1948 – Belgium allows them to form political parties (no birthday or tea parties).
1959 – Burundi asks for independence because of ethnic persecution of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda at the hands of the Hutu tribe.
1960 – Assassinations, parties rise to power, babies are born, older people die, things happen.
July 1st, 1962 – The country claims independence and legally changes its name to Burundi.
Ta-da! Who knew reading this blog might help you get that last piece in Trivial Pursuit.
Scenario:
(a living room at that house with that couple you can’t stand that your spouse/significant other/online date made you eat dinner with and then play the game that never ends)
Smug man with watch fob and monocle: In 1962, which African country declared independence?
You in all your glory: BOOM - Burundi!
(balloons and confetti fall from ceiling)
Ok, onto the festivities. Michael told us it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium. Ah yes, he meant 30 minutes African time. 30 minutes US time meant that we would have been there about an hour before we were. Did you know that Burundi has the largest sauna (next to Houston) in the world? You probably didn’t. It was actually a very pretty walk, because I’ve decided there isn’t a plant in the world that isn’t growing here. It’s incredible. For some reason, people started asking what certain plants were or what was in that building over there even though there was no way any of us knew. I, however, took this opportunity to take some very educated guesses, and thus began my journey as a Burundi tour guide. Dan, who is an engineer, looks to me to explain the plants (regardless of the fact that I believe I named a tree Shamu from the genus C-whirl), because it gives him peace of mind just knowing there is a name assigned to it.
When we got to the stadium, we found wall to wall people lining the streets as the military marched through the town. You learned about the word Muzungu in a previous post (if not, see posting below). Muzungu is not typically meant as a derogatory term but more of a strange way to point out to others and the white people that they are in fact white. The only thing that makes sense as a comparison is a celebrity walking through a suburban mall. Everyone looks, stares, talks amongst themselves, points, and even calls out who/what (R2-D2) is passing by. Sometimes they follow you just to see what crazy thing you may do next (eg Winona Ryder shoplifting #wishicouldhavebeenthere). For this reason, we try not to draw attention to ourselves, so we split into groups of 2-3. 2-3 Muzungus is a lot less awe-worthy than 8 of them walking together. Since there were so many people, I had Super-tall-Dan capture the military marching:(posting later with pictures - internet is far too slow).
Next, came our trip to Hotel Club du Lac. The hotel is on Lake Tanganyika a lake that has 1/6th of the total water contained in all the lakes around the world. Yes, thank me for that information.
Scenario:
You: I’ll take Bodies of Water for 1000, Alex.
AT: The answer is, “this lake contains 1/6th of all the world’s lake water”.
You: What is, Lake Tanganyika.
(chaos ensues…except you will eventually lose in Final Jeopardy over some trivial question like - “this celebrity once shoplifted from Saks Fifth Avenue“. Hint: it’s Winona Ryder…you clearly weren’t paying attention to this posting)
This resort/hotel is something you might find in Hawaii and is absolutely beautiful. The rooms run from about $150 (if you’re by yourself) – $400 a night. Some said they would feel guilty about staying there, but upon reading more about the hotel I think their feelings shifted. The hotel was built with local labor and the mas con menos philosophy (the most with the least). Through a program of social reintegration, many Bujumbura prisoners made the furniture in the rooms. All of the staff (about 120 people) are skilled, native Burundians. If you’d like to learn more about it check this out.
We ate pizza, sat by the pool, and had a little relaxation time. Nothing too noteworthy except an intense conversation about hippos killing us (mainly driven by Tessa), a nice Muzungu we met from Canada, and a guy windsurfing who I was sure was going to run into the pier at some point, but never did.
We were smart and pre-ordered the buffet dinner (to avoid another 2.5 hour meal) and went to bed early so we could be ready for our long trek to Gitega in the morning.
It’s Burundian Independence Day, and for those of you who shamefully do not know the history behind that (tsk tsk tsk) I will give you a quick lesson. And for those of you like my father who will remember this forever, here are the dates. (Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you people? I fear you’re the reason Jeopardy still exists)
1924 - Germany is defeated in WWI and surrenders East African territories to Belgium (modern day Burundi & Rwanda).
October 20, 1924 – This territory becomes a Belgian League of Nations called Ruanda-Urundi.
1940s – People get together, start talking, and powers begin to split.
1948 – Belgium allows them to form political parties (no birthday or tea parties).
1959 – Burundi asks for independence because of ethnic persecution of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda at the hands of the Hutu tribe.
1960 – Assassinations, parties rise to power, babies are born, older people die, things happen.
July 1st, 1962 – The country claims independence and legally changes its name to Burundi.
Ta-da! Who knew reading this blog might help you get that last piece in Trivial Pursuit.
Scenario:
(a living room at that house with that couple you can’t stand that your spouse/significant other/online date made you eat dinner with and then play the game that never ends)
Smug man with watch fob and monocle: In 1962, which African country declared independence?
You in all your glory: BOOM - Burundi!
(balloons and confetti fall from ceiling)
Ok, onto the festivities. Michael told us it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium. Ah yes, he meant 30 minutes African time. 30 minutes US time meant that we would have been there about an hour before we were. Did you know that Burundi has the largest sauna (next to Houston) in the world? You probably didn’t. It was actually a very pretty walk, because I’ve decided there isn’t a plant in the world that isn’t growing here. It’s incredible. For some reason, people started asking what certain plants were or what was in that building over there even though there was no way any of us knew. I, however, took this opportunity to take some very educated guesses, and thus began my journey as a Burundi tour guide. Dan, who is an engineer, looks to me to explain the plants (regardless of the fact that I believe I named a tree Shamu from the genus C-whirl), because it gives him peace of mind just knowing there is a name assigned to it.
When we got to the stadium, we found wall to wall people lining the streets as the military marched through the town. You learned about the word Muzungu in a previous post (if not, see posting below). Muzungu is not typically meant as a derogatory term but more of a strange way to point out to others and the white people that they are in fact white. The only thing that makes sense as a comparison is a celebrity walking through a suburban mall. Everyone looks, stares, talks amongst themselves, points, and even calls out who/what (R2-D2) is passing by. Sometimes they follow you just to see what crazy thing you may do next (eg Winona Ryder shoplifting #wishicouldhavebeenthere). For this reason, we try not to draw attention to ourselves, so we split into groups of 2-3. 2-3 Muzungus is a lot less awe-worthy than 8 of them walking together. Since there were so many people, I had Super-tall-Dan capture the military marching:(posting later with pictures - internet is far too slow).
Next, came our trip to Hotel Club du Lac. The hotel is on Lake Tanganyika a lake that has 1/6th of the total water contained in all the lakes around the world. Yes, thank me for that information.
Scenario:
You: I’ll take Bodies of Water for 1000, Alex.
AT: The answer is, “this lake contains 1/6th of all the world’s lake water”.
You: What is, Lake Tanganyika.
(chaos ensues…except you will eventually lose in Final Jeopardy over some trivial question like - “this celebrity once shoplifted from Saks Fifth Avenue“. Hint: it’s Winona Ryder…you clearly weren’t paying attention to this posting)
This resort/hotel is something you might find in Hawaii and is absolutely beautiful. The rooms run from about $150 (if you’re by yourself) – $400 a night. Some said they would feel guilty about staying there, but upon reading more about the hotel I think their feelings shifted. The hotel was built with local labor and the mas con menos philosophy (the most with the least). Through a program of social reintegration, many Bujumbura prisoners made the furniture in the rooms. All of the staff (about 120 people) are skilled, native Burundians. If you’d like to learn more about it check this out.
We ate pizza, sat by the pool, and had a little relaxation time. Nothing too noteworthy except an intense conversation about hippos killing us (mainly driven by Tessa), a nice Muzungu we met from Canada, and a guy windsurfing who I was sure was going to run into the pier at some point, but never did.
We were smart and pre-ordered the buffet dinner (to avoid another 2.5 hour meal) and went to bed early so we could be ready for our long trek to Gitega in the morning.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Coming Soon...
Posts about:
Burundi Independence Day (delayed from 7/1)
Why Burundi is the love child of Colorado and Hawaii (delayed from 7/2)
How I wish I could break my promise to my parents (or, why I may be coming home with a child in tow)
Featuring:
The Gazelle Players
The beautiful children at Future Hope School
Our bus and driver
Gilbert's hospitable cousin
The bright pink comforter in my hotel room
The wonderful people of Gitega
The strangely placed windows
Feel free to hit the subscribe via e-mail to receive a notification when a new post is up. EO Corporation does not sell or distribute your private e-mail address*.
*except for million dollar offers
Burundi Independence Day (delayed from 7/1)
Why Burundi is the love child of Colorado and Hawaii (delayed from 7/2)
How I wish I could break my promise to my parents (or, why I may be coming home with a child in tow)
Featuring:
The Gazelle Players
The beautiful children at Future Hope School
Our bus and driver
Gilbert's hospitable cousin
The bright pink comforter in my hotel room
The wonderful people of Gitega
The strangely placed windows
Feel free to hit the subscribe via e-mail to receive a notification when a new post is up. EO Corporation does not sell or distribute your private e-mail address*.
*except for million dollar offers
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Day of the Burundi rap video, lizard infestation, & 2.5 hour dinner
***Please note - all of the names have been changed below to protect the identities of the delirious***
Vocabulary you will need for this posting:
Muzungu: noun, Swahili for what literally translates as "Big white man", but it refers to all of us whiteys - male and female alike.
Mazumba: Definition to follow
I slept 10.5 hours. It was amazing. Some, however, were not so fortunate. And some, slept about 14 hours after going to bed at 10 PM. Their story went something like this (actual times in parenthesis).
-After waking up, Javida asks, "Jelissa, what time is it?"
-"5 AM" (noon)
-Phone rings, Javida answers, "Hello?"
-On the line, "Ma'am, can we come clean your room?"
-Javida's thoughts - why on earth are they cleaning my room at 5 AM? Javida asks, "Sir, what time is it?"
-Response "It's 12 o'clock ma'am." (insert immediate laughter from Javida here)
Those of us who did not sleep until noon had a lovely breakfast that included a delicious vegetable soup (not sarcasm - it really was a delicious soup for breakfast...and dinner...and for some, lunch). We met with a woman who works for Catholic Relief Services who has lived in various places on the continent of Africa (described as continent to clarify for those who want to call it a country) for over 30 years (originally from Wisconsin). She explained their projects over here and their funding which includes a 16 million dollar grant (the equivalent of 21.6* billion Burundi francs) just for development work in Burundi. It was incredible work.
At 3, we got in our bus and headed towards a coffee factory where they process the coffee beans. For more information on the life of a coffee bean, please go here (this site brought to you through the advice of Gazelle, Messa Tadison). Tomorrow is Burundi Independence Day so a lot of places shut down early today. This included the coffee factory. After our failed attempt at learning about coffee beans, we headed to Lake Tanganyaki where we found this brilliant local Burundi rapper filming his latest video on the beach. He was amazing! (Unfortunately, right now I cannot post the video of this, because our internet is not strong enough)
We did not go in the water for 2 fearful reasons:
1. Hippos (this fear brought to you, again, by Messa Tadison)
2. Parasites (see Discovery Channel's Monsters Inside Me for further information)
After a long walk on the beach, we came back to find Jelissa dancing with the children on the beach. They're mesmerized by Muzungus (see definition at top) in a way that can only be compared to the way we treat dogs when we see them - utter fascination and amusement and a need to touch them. The kids loved having their pictures taken and loved to see the photos afterwards (the G rated version of Paris Hilton watching TMZ).
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at one of two Obama Shops that we've seen. It should be noted they do not sell Obama related material inside. (A fact that greatly disappointed me. I was hoping for a place to purchase either an Obama costume or a photo booth where you could take your picture photoshopped with the President.) They did have groceries and china you could purchase for 400,000 francs (about $200*). Jelissa spent about $50 in there (no one was quite sure how), but I suspect it had something to do with the $8 box of Fruit Rollups and $9 Gushers she bought for her son. She didn't realize the price because no one thought about the fact that they were imported fruit snacks. Let this be a lesson to you all, do not come to Burundi for any of the following -
1. Obama merchandise
2. Inexpensive fruit snacks
When I came back to the hotel, I found that 4 lizards that had taken occupancy in my room (much like one did in a blouse my Mom left outside to dry one time (this is a shoutout to my family - what up family?). I suspect they heard the malaria pills were making me sick and wanted to protect me from any mosquitos. Little do they know, mosquitos (much like cats) do not like me. Eventually, the front desk came to my rescue. As I spoke with the manager and thanked him (in French) he gave me the greatest compliment I think he could give me. He asked me if I was Marion Cotillard. Ok, that's a lie. He told me my french accent was very good and I said my 'r' perfectly. Needless to say, I've been walking around town saying "Merci" to each and every person I see.
Next came dinner... I should explain our hotel and Burundi culture first. Our hotel has about 50 rooms, possibly 1 cook (you'll see why I guessed that later), 2 guards (sometimes), 2-3 guys who work the front, and various other maintenance personnel. After overhead, the revenue from the hotel and restaurant go to youth development, leadership training, and HIV/AIDS education. Burundi time is much like the rest of the world (except for you watch wearing Americans) in that things start and end whenever they start and end. Why time things? Typically, I'm ok with this policy, but some people really needed some sleep. We came down for dinner at 7 PM and had a limited menu (they get groceries and cook them immediately after - there isn't an abundance of refrigeration). The menu had vegetable soup, ratatouille, fried chicken, fried fish, curry rice, fruit cup, and chocolate crepes on it. After about 2 hours, the vegetable soup came out. The rest followed 10 minutes later in a series of rounds. Since we were there for 2 hours, and many people were tired (much like after the flight), they began to say very silly things.
-What year is it? -Messa Tadison (after we landed in Burundi and were filling out customs forms)
-What did we have for dinner last night? -Han Dopper (10 minutes after he spent 20 minutes explaining to Olizabeth Esterwisch the complete menu from the night before)
-What are you a Mazumba? -Olizabeth Esterwisch (I believe, in fact, I'm fairly certain she/he** was going for Muzungu)
To correct her error during the 2.5 hour dinner, Olizabeth and a friend, Lelly Karkan proceeded to define Mazumba.
Mazumba: noun, a white person who lives in Burundi and is neither a traveller nor native
Mazumba: noun, a white person who puts too much sunscreen on their face making them ghostlike
Mazumba: noun, a white person who is significantly shorter than others she (must be female) is around. Not to be confused with dwarfism. See short/petite/Spud Webb.
Tomorrow is Independence Day, so I'll post as much as we can when we return from the parade and Hotel du Lac. Murakoze!
*According to current exchange rates. This rate is non-transferrable and expires 1/7/11
**To protect the gender of the delirious
Vocabulary you will need for this posting:
Muzungu: noun, Swahili for what literally translates as "Big white man", but it refers to all of us whiteys - male and female alike.
Mazumba: Definition to follow
I slept 10.5 hours. It was amazing. Some, however, were not so fortunate. And some, slept about 14 hours after going to bed at 10 PM. Their story went something like this (actual times in parenthesis).
-After waking up, Javida asks, "Jelissa, what time is it?"
-"5 AM" (noon)
-Phone rings, Javida answers, "Hello?"
-On the line, "Ma'am, can we come clean your room?"
-Javida's thoughts - why on earth are they cleaning my room at 5 AM? Javida asks, "Sir, what time is it?"
-Response "It's 12 o'clock ma'am." (insert immediate laughter from Javida here)
Those of us who did not sleep until noon had a lovely breakfast that included a delicious vegetable soup (not sarcasm - it really was a delicious soup for breakfast...and dinner...and for some, lunch). We met with a woman who works for Catholic Relief Services who has lived in various places on the continent of Africa (described as continent to clarify for those who want to call it a country) for over 30 years (originally from Wisconsin). She explained their projects over here and their funding which includes a 16 million dollar grant (the equivalent of 21.6* billion Burundi francs) just for development work in Burundi. It was incredible work.
At 3, we got in our bus and headed towards a coffee factory where they process the coffee beans. For more information on the life of a coffee bean, please go here (this site brought to you through the advice of Gazelle, Messa Tadison). Tomorrow is Burundi Independence Day so a lot of places shut down early today. This included the coffee factory. After our failed attempt at learning about coffee beans, we headed to Lake Tanganyaki where we found this brilliant local Burundi rapper filming his latest video on the beach. He was amazing! (Unfortunately, right now I cannot post the video of this, because our internet is not strong enough)
We did not go in the water for 2 fearful reasons:
1. Hippos (this fear brought to you, again, by Messa Tadison)
2. Parasites (see Discovery Channel's Monsters Inside Me for further information)
After a long walk on the beach, we came back to find Jelissa dancing with the children on the beach. They're mesmerized by Muzungus (see definition at top) in a way that can only be compared to the way we treat dogs when we see them - utter fascination and amusement and a need to touch them. The kids loved having their pictures taken and loved to see the photos afterwards (the G rated version of Paris Hilton watching TMZ).
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at one of two Obama Shops that we've seen. It should be noted they do not sell Obama related material inside. (A fact that greatly disappointed me. I was hoping for a place to purchase either an Obama costume or a photo booth where you could take your picture photoshopped with the President.) They did have groceries and china you could purchase for 400,000 francs (about $200*). Jelissa spent about $50 in there (no one was quite sure how), but I suspect it had something to do with the $8 box of Fruit Rollups and $9 Gushers she bought for her son. She didn't realize the price because no one thought about the fact that they were imported fruit snacks. Let this be a lesson to you all, do not come to Burundi for any of the following -
1. Obama merchandise
2. Inexpensive fruit snacks
When I came back to the hotel, I found that 4 lizards that had taken occupancy in my room (much like one did in a blouse my Mom left outside to dry one time (this is a shoutout to my family - what up family?). I suspect they heard the malaria pills were making me sick and wanted to protect me from any mosquitos. Little do they know, mosquitos (much like cats) do not like me. Eventually, the front desk came to my rescue. As I spoke with the manager and thanked him (in French) he gave me the greatest compliment I think he could give me. He asked me if I was Marion Cotillard. Ok, that's a lie. He told me my french accent was very good and I said my 'r' perfectly. Needless to say, I've been walking around town saying "Merci" to each and every person I see.
Next came dinner... I should explain our hotel and Burundi culture first. Our hotel has about 50 rooms, possibly 1 cook (you'll see why I guessed that later), 2 guards (sometimes), 2-3 guys who work the front, and various other maintenance personnel. After overhead, the revenue from the hotel and restaurant go to youth development, leadership training, and HIV/AIDS education. Burundi time is much like the rest of the world (except for you watch wearing Americans) in that things start and end whenever they start and end. Why time things? Typically, I'm ok with this policy, but some people really needed some sleep. We came down for dinner at 7 PM and had a limited menu (they get groceries and cook them immediately after - there isn't an abundance of refrigeration). The menu had vegetable soup, ratatouille, fried chicken, fried fish, curry rice, fruit cup, and chocolate crepes on it. After about 2 hours, the vegetable soup came out. The rest followed 10 minutes later in a series of rounds. Since we were there for 2 hours, and many people were tired (much like after the flight), they began to say very silly things.
-What year is it? -Messa Tadison (after we landed in Burundi and were filling out customs forms)
-What did we have for dinner last night? -Han Dopper (10 minutes after he spent 20 minutes explaining to Olizabeth Esterwisch the complete menu from the night before)
-What are you a Mazumba? -Olizabeth Esterwisch (I believe, in fact, I'm fairly certain she/he** was going for Muzungu)
To correct her error during the 2.5 hour dinner, Olizabeth and a friend, Lelly Karkan proceeded to define Mazumba.
Mazumba: noun, a white person who lives in Burundi and is neither a traveller nor native
Mazumba: noun, a white person who puts too much sunscreen on their face making them ghostlike
Mazumba: noun, a white person who is significantly shorter than others she (must be female) is around. Not to be confused with dwarfism. See short/petite/Spud Webb.
Tomorrow is Independence Day, so I'll post as much as we can when we return from the parade and Hotel du Lac. Murakoze!
*According to current exchange rates. This rate is non-transferrable and expires 1/7/11
**To protect the gender of the delirious
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Look out Burundi - The Gazelles are here!
***PLEASE NOTE EVERYTHING IN THE BELOW POSTING HAS BEEN TYPED AFTER BEING AWAKE FOR 28 HOURS***
Let me first explain how we all managed to get here. I left for Houston on Sunday evening to leave my dog with my parents. On Monday, I left at 5 PM on a flight to DC (like most of the Gazelles; although, they were flying from Austin). Most of us took the correct shuttle to the hotel, but who knew that there were 4 different Hampton Inn Dulles? That's an easy answer - the drivers of the shuttles knew this information. They just didn't know a whole lot of English, which is where a few ran into problems. We left at 9:30 AM for the DC airport on Tuesday morning. Let me explain a few things about Ethiopian Airlines -
1. You cannot check-in online.
2. You can check 2 x 50 pound bags (no charge).
3. Once you enter the line you cannot repack your bag if it is over the 50 lb limit (a $210 fee).
4. Most of the people in line were taking 3-4 bags of varying sizes. They were also mostly women and did not seem to be able to effectively move 4 pieces of luggage.
5. Everyone applauds when the plane lands. This happened on all 3 legs of our journey. I want to bring that back to the states. It's quite fun.
6. They feed you more than the US airlines that fly internationally and they give free wine to everyone (a fact I didn't learn until the lady next to me ordered red wine in the last hour of my journey). They also apparently had a snack bar setup in the back. I mistook the constant traffic as bathroom needs.
We arrived at our gate right around boarding time and stepped on board for the 13 hour and 45 minute journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was in the middle seat, in the middle row of row 40. It actually wasn't horrid, but I was not able to sleep, which leads to me to my series on entertainment options. Except for 1 movie, I had Damonfest.
1. Ocean's Eleven is still entertaining the 20th time you watch it.
2. The same 30 Rock episode with the meeting of Matt Damon's character, Carol, and Liz Lemon is quite hilarious (even when you watch it twice in the same 13 hour span).
3. You should probably see the other Bourne movies before attempting to watch Bourne Ultimatum (a mistake I made for about an hour).
4. The remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory even on a plane is quite disappointing (my cousins may know what I'm talking about).
5. They have a map that zooms in on your route. It shows a zoomed out image of the DC to Ethiopia path and then the screen updates as it zooms in on your location. While it includes the names of nearby cities, oceans, lakes, it also includes the location in the ocean/sea of shipwrecks and the year they went down. For example, Titanic; 1912 and Scorpion; 1968 and they had these markers in the ocean. I kept looking for an Osama Bin Laden marker, but I did not see one. I was just happy they had good enough judgment not to include plane wrecks. I might have requested Xanax upon seeing that.
We landed in Ethiopia at 8:30 AM and found the Addis Ababa airport to be a tad bit confusing. There are people at tables with computers which are randomly placed in strange areas (e.g. the top of the escalator), and everyone has to take a bus from the terminal (where everyone appeared to be using the same gate) to their flight. It's quite chaotic. People were jumping across lines to flights they weren't supposed to get on because they didn't understand the rules (I had the priviledge of listening to the lady scold those people and teach them the rules). I captured the reactions of a few Gazelles on the bus.
We flew into Nairobi, Kenya and sat there for an hour then headed on to Bujumbura, Burundi. I flew over the Serengeti and we passed Mount Kilimanjaro (couldn't really see it, but it needed to be mentioned because I thought it was awesome). Addis Ababa doesn't hold a candle to the Bujumbura airport. There are no computers (other than the few security scanners). There are no printers. Everything is done by hand. It's amazing.
The place to go if you lost your luggage. Its very official.
People do not form lines for anything, either. It was quite entertaining to watch and also be a participant in this madness.
After flying through Ethiopia and Kenya, I can say based on aerial and airport views alone, Burundi is much more beautiful. There are palm trees and tropical plants growing all around, there is a constant background of the mountains, and beautiful Lake Tanganyika which reportedly has hippos in it. It's very beautiful and I'll post more beauty photos (that are also in focus) later.
Let me first explain how we all managed to get here. I left for Houston on Sunday evening to leave my dog with my parents. On Monday, I left at 5 PM on a flight to DC (like most of the Gazelles; although, they were flying from Austin). Most of us took the correct shuttle to the hotel, but who knew that there were 4 different Hampton Inn Dulles? That's an easy answer - the drivers of the shuttles knew this information. They just didn't know a whole lot of English, which is where a few ran into problems. We left at 9:30 AM for the DC airport on Tuesday morning. Let me explain a few things about Ethiopian Airlines -
1. You cannot check-in online.
2. You can check 2 x 50 pound bags (no charge).
3. Once you enter the line you cannot repack your bag if it is over the 50 lb limit (a $210 fee).
4. Most of the people in line were taking 3-4 bags of varying sizes. They were also mostly women and did not seem to be able to effectively move 4 pieces of luggage.
5. Everyone applauds when the plane lands. This happened on all 3 legs of our journey. I want to bring that back to the states. It's quite fun.
6. They feed you more than the US airlines that fly internationally and they give free wine to everyone (a fact I didn't learn until the lady next to me ordered red wine in the last hour of my journey). They also apparently had a snack bar setup in the back. I mistook the constant traffic as bathroom needs.
We arrived at our gate right around boarding time and stepped on board for the 13 hour and 45 minute journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was in the middle seat, in the middle row of row 40. It actually wasn't horrid, but I was not able to sleep, which leads to me to my series on entertainment options. Except for 1 movie, I had Damonfest.
1. Ocean's Eleven is still entertaining the 20th time you watch it.
2. The same 30 Rock episode with the meeting of Matt Damon's character, Carol, and Liz Lemon is quite hilarious (even when you watch it twice in the same 13 hour span).
3. You should probably see the other Bourne movies before attempting to watch Bourne Ultimatum (a mistake I made for about an hour).
4. The remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory even on a plane is quite disappointing (my cousins may know what I'm talking about).
5. They have a map that zooms in on your route. It shows a zoomed out image of the DC to Ethiopia path and then the screen updates as it zooms in on your location. While it includes the names of nearby cities, oceans, lakes, it also includes the location in the ocean/sea of shipwrecks and the year they went down. For example, Titanic; 1912 and Scorpion; 1968 and they had these markers in the ocean. I kept looking for an Osama Bin Laden marker, but I did not see one. I was just happy they had good enough judgment not to include plane wrecks. I might have requested Xanax upon seeing that.
We landed in Ethiopia at 8:30 AM and found the Addis Ababa airport to be a tad bit confusing. There are people at tables with computers which are randomly placed in strange areas (e.g. the top of the escalator), and everyone has to take a bus from the terminal (where everyone appeared to be using the same gate) to their flight. It's quite chaotic. People were jumping across lines to flights they weren't supposed to get on because they didn't understand the rules (I had the priviledge of listening to the lady scold those people and teach them the rules). I captured the reactions of a few Gazelles on the bus.
We flew into Nairobi, Kenya and sat there for an hour then headed on to Bujumbura, Burundi. I flew over the Serengeti and we passed Mount Kilimanjaro (couldn't really see it, but it needed to be mentioned because I thought it was awesome). Addis Ababa doesn't hold a candle to the Bujumbura airport. There are no computers (other than the few security scanners). There are no printers. Everything is done by hand. It's amazing.
The place to go if you lost your luggage. Its very official.
People do not form lines for anything, either. It was quite entertaining to watch and also be a participant in this madness.
After flying through Ethiopia and Kenya, I can say based on aerial and airport views alone, Burundi is much more beautiful. There are palm trees and tropical plants growing all around, there is a constant background of the mountains, and beautiful Lake Tanganyika which reportedly has hippos in it. It's very beautiful and I'll post more beauty photos (that are also in focus) later.
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