Karibu Tanzania

Today we had our 1^st day of classes (2/1). This morning we woke up at 715 for breakfast and had Wildlife Ecology at 8 with John Kiko. Let’s just say I’m not in the school mode to sit in a classroom for a 2 hr lecture. At 10 we had a 5 hr break before our next class. We all decided to grab our crazy creeks to sit outside and catch up on lecture readings (yes we already have reading assignments) and to also to soak up the sun. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention to my legs and they got extremely sunburned. At least the rest of me is tan. Then after lunch we had Economic Policy in Tanzania with Mwnhanga, which means son of – hanga (family name) in Swahili. I'm picking up on a lot of Swahili words already, and our 1st class starts next week. Then from 4-5:30 we took Wildlife Management with Christian. The classes are interesting it’s just hard adjusting to sit still for so long when all I want to do is run outside. Wildlife Management reminds me exactly like Habitat Management class I took at UMass with Todd Fuller, so it’s pretty repetitive. Except Todd’s stories are amazing, cause he's the man! (Miss you Brett & Kyle). However, on Saturday and Sunday we get to go to Lake Manyara National Park. So I can’t wait for that, and to break out my telephoto lens. and photograph some animals. Then after classes Christian and other students were organizing a soccer game outside the campsite and I really wanted to join but as soon as I laced up my sneakers I realized my burn was worse then I thought, so I took a shower and decided to blog before dinner.

            Kesho (until tomorrow)

Dee

So theses are our bandas. There’s 4 roommates per side, and were in Tembo Right. Tembo means elephant in Swahili. The bandas are sort’ve like mini kabutizs. Inside there’s 4 bunk beds with a shower and bathroom in each unit. And YES! flushable toilets but extremely cold showers. But it feels good to take one in the middle of the day though. Internet is wireless but in and out all the time and very very slow (i'm not supossed to be uploading pictures to my blog oops.) I’m enjoying my time here so far, I miss home and UMass more then I thought but I hope everyone is having a great semester and i'm sure I’ll be back before I know it!