Culture Shock. It happens to everyone.

Hey!  Sorry I haven’t been able to post for so long.  The power, and water here are a bit… patchy.  So the internet has obviously been patchy as well.  I am now in my third week of abroad experiences and boy has it been a wild ride.  I’ve never been affected by culture shock before, but it looks like I’ve fallen prey to it this time.  The first two weeks were great.  Despite some frustrations surrounding the freedoms (or lack thereof) given to us by our program director, I managed to explore Dar a bit and found the most amazing island off the coast.  Mbudya.  It’s all white sand beaches, turquoise water, whispering pines, tide pools, baobab trees, and coral reefs.  Although the beach was great, the reef was what sold me.  My friend Jamie and I snorkeled for about two hours and managed to find all kinds of species including (but not limited to) an octopus, an eel, a lionfish, and a puffer fish.  It was phenomenal.

However, I have finally descended to what I hope is the bottom of my culture-shock roller coaster.  I’m frustrated with the food, the way my blonde hair and white skin attract the “once over” look from everyone I pass, and the way Africans seem to need to fill and waste time.  There is no such thing as ending early here.  Even if there is nothing more to say.  For that matter, there is no such thing as getting anything done on time either.  And yet, we’re all expected to be on time and have everything done on time.  The double standard is hard to keep up with.

I’m also tired of being such a spectacle.  I’ve been going to the track to work out in the mornings and it has made me feel like I’m the center-ring act of a three-ring circus.  Kids walking to school stop along the side of the track to wait and see if I’ll say hi when I run by.  Men come up to me and ask why I wasn’t there the day before and when I’ll be coming back.  Others sit down on the side of the soccer field to watch me run killers.  They don’t even PRETEND to be disinterested!  It’s all very strange… but I guess it’s curing me of my discomfort with working out while other people are watching…  haha.

Finally (and this will be my last complaint because I realize I’m suffering from culture shock and am probably being ridiculous about much of this), I’m realizing how wonderful it is to be a woman in the United States.  I have not been abused much, but little glances, comments, and cultural signals have started to get to me.  It’s just strange to feel inappropriate in a knee-length skirt.  Who would have known?

On the bright side, my Swahili is getting better and I have made friends with most of the cafeteria staff so meal times are entertaining… even if my naivety is the source of entertainment (which is usually the case).  I’m also busy planning my travels for the week long break in September (before the field station leg of the trip).  Jamie and I are going to travel north along the coast of Tanzania and do a variety of things.  We’ll stay in a village called Pangine which has a marine reserve that boasts excellent snorkeling and common dolphin sightings.  Then we’ll move on north to Tanga, visiting some ruins and other attractions along the way.  Then, on our way to join the rest of the group in Arusha, we’ll hike in the Usambara Mountains for a day or two.  I’m very excited.

Well, I’m out of battery now.  To get internet, we have to come to the middle of campus where a huge tree is planted and surrounded by stone tables.  It’s actually quite a beautiful spot, but it means my internet time is limited by my battery life which leaves something to be desired.

I’ll be sure to write again soon to fill you in on the brighter side of the past three weeks.  It truly is beautiful here.

love you all!

p.s. To the right, you’ll see a link called “Chelsea’s Weblog.”  Many of you know her.  She’s pretty much the greatest person ever. ;)  Actually, she’s one of my best friends and, starting next week, she’ll be studying abroad in India for the semester.  You can follow her adventures too!  Be sure to check out her blog.

Karibu kwa Afrika!

Salama rafiki zangu!  Ninakaa Afrika!
I’m in Africa!

I have been here a full week now and am finally getting the hang of things.  It’s still surprisingly hard to comprehend where I am.  East Africa.  Worlds away from anything familiar.  Here, trees grow out more than up, there are monkeys instead of squirrels, toilets never work, and greetings are the most important part of communication.

We started Swahili lessons this week - 4 hours a day - so I am learning quickly.  The grammar in Kiswahili is surprisingly simple, but the vocabulary is hard to memorize. It’s strange being in a country where I am not comfortable with the language. I am realizing how lucky I was to have learned Spanish because it allowed me to waltz into any Spanish speaking country and be independent immediately. Here, it took me about four days to be able to order my own food. Now I am functionally comfortable, but my Swahili is by no means conversational. It’s pretty funny, really, because I keep getting myself into challenging conversations with Tanzanians. I can hold my own through the greetings and introductions so they think I actually speak the language. Soon, they launch into topics I cannot understand and I have to explain that I’ve only been here a week and I don’t actually speak Swahili. Nasema Kiswahili kidogo. Nimesoma. Samahani. I speak Swahili a little. I am learning. Sorry. I have 6 weeks of these classes, though, and 5 months in the country. I have high hopes for my language ability. J

This week was devoted to orientation and Swahili education. Except for an excursion to the Indian Ocean one afternoon and a trip to the US Embassy a couple days ago, we haven’t really left the campus (which is on a hill outside of the city). Our coordinator wants us to explore little by little. We’re actually getting quite tired of campus, though, so I think several students will try to head at least partway into town this weekend. Tomorrow is Nane Nane day (August 8^th Nane means eight in Swahili), which is a day to honor the farmers. It is a national holiday, so we have nothing planned for the whole day which means… three day weekend! Yay for Nane Nane day!

Everything shifts into full gear on Monday. Aside from drafting our research project proposals, we will begin our other two classes: Ecology of the Masaai Ecosystem, and Human Evolution. It should be fun, but it will also be exhausting. But first: the weekend.  I’ll keep you updated!

hello from a hostel in chicago

hi!  i have to type fast. there are only 6 minutes left on my computer’s battery life.

we fly to tanzania tomorrow.  i am in chicago now and just met the group.   they seem great.  more later!

computer is dying! bye!

“now”

May 25, 2008

I realize I haven’t written since St. Patrick’s Day…but I don’t really feel bad about it. I have this complex relationship with blogging. Going into this blog, I told myself I wouldn’t reveal anything about myself on it – because that’s dangerous. I mean, anyone can and will read my blog, right? Well that quickly became impossible as personal details have slipped in under my radar and I haven’t bothered to correct them. Sometimes personal details are necessary. I have tried, however, to keep personal stories out of my blog. This is a hard battle to fight. It’s so tempting to turn my blog into a personal narrative – a public journal that replaces the good old fashioned notebook of my childhood and adolescence. If that was the case, I’d have lots of things to say and posting wouldn’t feel like a chore – or would it? Even as I sat down to write this - my head spinning with things to say, words practically spilling from my fingertips in already mentally formed and reformed sentences - I am filled with apathy by the untyped page. Why should I take the time to put my thoughts down on paper? I know what I’m thinking and none of you actually care. If there’s something someone needs to know, I generally end up telling them outright in hour long conversations that seem to happen frequently. I just read an article in the New York Times Magazine about a professional blogger who ended up ruining her life because she “overshared” on her various blogs. I “overshare” in a much more old fashioned way and that gets me into enough trouble.

So right now, instead of writing about my currently messed up and confusing social and love life or my own astonishment at my rapidly transforming identity (topics I will likely address in another document immediately following the drafting of this post and ones I, in good Jr. High fashion, have previously explored in the backs of notebooks while trying to stay awake in class), and instead of profusely name-dropping pseudonyms for all the people in my life, I’m going to simply write about right now: Where I am and what I’m thinking. – And hope things don’t get to personal. Because if they do, I’ll have to consign this draft to my personal journal and think of something else to write. And it won’t be interesting. And it probably won’t get written.

Anyway, Now. I’m sitting in the motor boat at the end of my cabin’s dock. As I write, I know that I won’t be able to post this until a day or two from now because I have no internet access. It’s Memorial Day weekend and I’m up here for a variety of family functions that have allowed extended family politics to permeate my life more than I am normally comfortable with – but no more than they do at Thanksgiving. It’s just surprising to me because I’m coming off of college and a different sort of family politics there and being thrown into the same-old same-old conversations that, frankly, I’m tired of hearing about and dealing with. But I’ve managed to shrug most of them off pretty well and enjoyed the time by taking pictures and sharing bits of gossip with my cousins. And now I’m sitting alone down at the beach. The sun is nearing setting – it’s about 7 o’clock – and the wind is blowing pretty hard. It reminds me a little of campus, but I’m trying not to think about that. Thoughts spinning in my head include blogging ethics and safety, half-guilty reflections on my own episodes of ‘oversharing’ I have suffered in the last month, memories of childhood summers spent at the lake, annoyance at my longing to be back in the midst of this last semester, contemplations about the importance of Jesus to Christianity (my grandpa was just having a heated debate with my mom and aunt as I walked through the living room to get my computer), horror at how fast I seem to be growing up, and – as stated before – confusion about my own life choices in academia, social life, and love interests.

What I’ll talk about, though, is how nice the wind feels and how cold the water is. Apparently the ice broke up only two weeks ago, so the water is still frigid. I stood in it for a little while and wished it was warmer so I could have a day at the beach. But those days will come. Hopefully. I don’t have a lot of time at the cabin this summer, but what’s new? Since I entered high school, soccer and jobs have gotten in the way of month-long excursions to the cabin. But I’ll take what weekends I can. Unfortunately, I only have about eight and I have to balance them between driving back down to Northfield to see the many college friends who are staying in town for jobs or classes this summer, reconnecting with my high school friends in the city, and taking time for trips to the cabin and other places as yet up in the air. Oh and a family sailing trip. So we’ll see how this goes. I suppose I’ll be here for the 4^th of July. It will be warm then. Interestingly, I’m having trouble adjusting to the cabin atmosphere. The lack of a cell phone – because I stupidly packed my charger into storage before I left campus – and lack of internet access leaves me hanging after the intense socialization of a college campus. At college, even when I’m alone, I’m not really alone. My best friends are mere steps away at all times and the online community of facebook is at my fingertips. Add the new facebook chat to the mix and things get all the more extreme. Even now, as I sit on the porch at my cabin (yes, I’ve moved), my mind is reaching out to those friends I’ve been in communication with 24/7 for the past semester. I’m strangely adrift without their input. That’s an independence I’m going to have to gain very soon. I think I’ll manage but it will be nice to be ‘home’ again, come January.

curious

So I was wondering:
What do people visit this blog for? I have thus far used this blog for a variety of purposes: updates on life, a place to post some of my own photography, a place to review/suggest artists I’ve encountered and enjoyed, and a place to simply post random thoughts. Over time, I’ve noticed some trends in what posts get viewed most often, but I would like to hear directly from readers about what you get out of my blog so I can have a better idea of what people want to see here. Should I focus in on one thing or do people enjoy the variety? Is there something you’d like to see more of? Do you want an easier way to access all the posts of each “type?” I’d like to hear what you have to say, so please leave a comment. Thanks!

p.s. Happy St. Patrick’s Day (kind of. if you ignore the pope…)

wrap-up (I miss Itasca)

I am waaay overdue on this but I thought I’d just wrap the trip up for you:

First things first. Itasca was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Not only did I learn a ton without realizing it (my professor has a way of simply exuding information when you’re in his presence and it’s impossible not to pick up on it), but I got to spend a month learning through experience and being outside again. I really miss being so connected with the land and with nature. It was a connection I had growing up and, in high school, through sports. In college, though, homework and work and life in general can get in the way of that connection. In Itasca I was able to reconnect and I hope I can hold on to that this semester. It’s such a great mood booster! Nothing like fresh air… really.

We finished our paper after about 36 hours of data crunching, writing, and re-writing. I’d be happy to share it with anyone who’s interested but I can’t post a link for copyright reasons. I can, however, post the abstract:

Recent trends in ice cover and thickness serve as important indicators of climate change. In order to understand these trends, we compiled records of ice cover and temperature in Itasca State Park and measured ice thickness, snow depth, lake morphometry, and temperature twice on 19 lakes within the park. Upon testing ice thickness, we found a significant correlation with snow depth and, at various depths on Lake Itasca, little to no relationship between ice thickness and water depth. Ice thickness and snow depth were negatively correlated as were ice growth and air temperature. There was also a correlation between ice cover duration and air temperature. These findings have environmental and biological implications, thus we suggest continued collection of ice thickness and ice cover data in order to observe continuing climatic trends.

We’re all very proud of this paper. It really turned out to be something. Hopefully future groups will be interested enough to continue our work and make Itasca, MN a site for climate change monitoring.

In case you’re interested, the other projects we did were

• testing the effects of soot and dust on snow density and albedo (reflectivity)
• a beaver census (that has been going on since 1979)
• a wildlife and vegetation survey of Bear Paw Point, a peninsula in Lake Itasca
• testing nitrate concentration in winter streams

Ask me for more information on any of them.

Finally (and I don’t mean to sound sappy) the best thing about this trip was that it gave me the opportunity to get to know a group of phenomenal people who are turning into [hopefully] lifelong friends. Being in close quarters for such an extended period of time and having almost no time alone meant that we all got to see each other for who we truly are. We were able to recognize each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and quirks and often ended up having deep conversations that changed many of our perceptions about the world, ourselves, and each other. For my part, I know this trip changed me. Those ten friends gave me the gift of confidence which has turned out to be the greatest gift they could ever have given and the greatest lesson I could ever have learned. I’ve been able to bring that lesson back to the ‘real world’ and it has beautifully transformed my life at home and here at school. Basically, I’m still on an Itasca high and I hope I stay that way. Life feels great!

pictures (as promised)
-I must mention that these first four were not taken by me but by three friends.-

-And these were taken by me.

Also, I’ve finally loaded the last northern lights picture (in my post northern lights) and the group picture (in my post catch-up). And if you’re interested in seeing more pictures, feel free to check out my facebook (on which I’ve uploaded 3 albums with many more people-pictures cause it’s more secure than a blog) or ask me to show you more pictures. If you want clarification on any of the pictures, shoot me an e-mail and I’ll give you some background. I’m always happy to tell Itasca stories!

peace

catch-up

sorry it’s been so long. this week was crazy - freezing cold temperatures over the weekend and into the beginning of the week; 2 days of intense auguring to get all 19 lakes re-tested after the cold snap (there was about a 5 cm increase in ice thickness during the weekend’s -40 degree Fahrenheit weekend), and then 2 straight days of beaver survey that included miles and miles of hiking just to get to the areas we were surveying. It was intense. Oh and I pulled something in my ankle Monday so all this was done on an unhappy ankle. heh

anyway, we are now finished gathering data (beaver and otherwise) and I am currently sitting in the lab/library working on writing our paper. we had our winter tree identification quiz yesterday (it was SO much fun. truly. kind of like a treasure hunt. ;)) and this morning we tried to core Ozawindib lake but the plexiglass part of the coring rod came detached and we lost it in the lake (oops) so instead we took pictures by the headwaters and at our cabin in our long underwear (hilarious. they’re posted below.  we’ve had some great photoshoots.) and came back to write. i’d better get back to that…

       

northern lights

a couple of us decided to try to see the northern lights on monday evening. we went out between 12:30 and 1:30 am, but didn’t get much of a show. hopefully they’ll get better as the nights get colder. i got good pictures of the stars, though, and caught some of the green glow in the last one.

(i know these pictures are a little small to see so let me know if you want to see them bigger. i got a few really great ones of Orion.)

more pictures

this weekend was crazy. our group worked all weekend to drill holes in 19 different lakes over 3 days. although we got faster by the end, it still took most of the daylight hours each day. we now have a good base of data to start our paper - just in time for the freezing weather to hit! we’re going to have to go out and do each lake again, though, in about a week to see how this cold has affected ice thickness. we had some beautiful weather though so here are some pictures:

beavers and ice

Yesterday we continued our search for beaver lodges and had quite the exciting day! The 11 of us students split into 4 groups, each covering a square mile of the park. Out of the 11 of us, 6 put a foot or a leg through the ice. One guy went through twice: The first time to his thigh, the second time, shin deep in bog mud. Good times. Anyway, I brought my camera on that trip, so here are a few images from that.

Today was our first day to work on individual projects. I’m working on an ice-coring project with two other girls, hoping to study the effects of global climate change on ice depth, snow depth, temperature, ice in and ice out times, etc. and how that all affects the surrounding ecosystems. It’s quite the project. Today, we drilled 6 holes in one lake to test whether there is a correlation between ice thickness and water depth. Our data was pretty inconclusive, but we think there’s more of a correlation between snow depth and ice thickness. More later on all this. I took my camera today too, though, so I have some images for you. We had good hoar frost on the trees today, so picture opportunities were great. Enjoy!