A lot has been happening here. WEECE has been quite frustrating. Last week after announcing a surprise holiday, the students left early, and me and the volunteers were left with Mama Mrema, my supervisor who I have lost so much faith in, as she constantly is screaming at us and changing her stories. However, I write a lot to the other fellows about work as well as complain about it to my parents, so I think I'll write about something else. Over the weekend I went to Tanga, which is a coastal city about 5 hours south east of here. The bus ride was very uncomfortable but very pretty. I went with my new roommate, I haven't had one all summer until a week ago. Her name is Sarah and she's from Calgary in Canada. We passed by the pare and usambara mountain ranges. They were mostly green mountains with lush forests. In every village we stopped in, men would rush the cars with boxes of cookies, juice, banana and other snacks. Also, the further east we went the more Muslim I noticed people got. Most women wore hijabs and full burqas and most men wore hats (I'm afraid I sound ignorant, but I don't know what they're called). Tanga was beautiful. The buildings are older and dutch influenced. The city sits sleepily on the Indian Ocean, which is covered in large cargo ships and barges.

Saturday, Sarah and I rode bikes along the coast and out of town,with a guide, to the Amboni Caves. There, we went cave exploring, or spelunking. The caves are some of the oldest in this part of the world. It was fun, but the bats were a little gross; especially when they all flew at us. Witch doctors have ceremonies in these caves. One had just happened when we were there. They left behind a bowl of blood and some strange flowers. After the caves, we rode our bikes to these sulpher springs where another witch doctor was collecting water from the springs for his “medicine.” After the ride, we were hot, tired and sweaty, so we went to lunch and lots of water at this cafeteria style diner, where we ate curried prawns, veggies and rice. After lunch, we walked through town and to this private beach. All the beaches are private, but this one only cost about 50 cents to get in. It was strange though. There was not sand, and you just walked down stairs to get into the water. Also, it was uncomfortable because there were mostly men and children there. The few women that were there, were just there with their children, and when they went into the water, they were wearing drapey, long, sari like clothing head to toe. We were stared at for just pulling up our skirts over our ankles to dip our feet in. Oh well. At least we can say we dipped our feet in the Indian Ocean. Nevertheless, it was beautiful. That night we ate dinner at a fancy hotel. It still only cost about $10 per person. We ate huge pieces of fish outside on a soft green lawn, overlooking the ocean. Tanga has few wzungu, and I think is very underrated. The prices were much better than in Moshi, and the people were more laid back. However, it was awkward at the beach and also that night when we watched the Uruguay Germany game at an outdoor bar that was again, mostly men. Much different, in that sense, than Moshi.

This week, the theme has been healthcare and hospitals in Tanzania. At WEECE on Monday, Johanna, the secretary told me her heart was racing very hard, and she couldn't breathe properly. She then began hyperventilating and passed out. So, I ran down the street and grabbed a cab. Thankfully the hospital was just down the street, or so I thought. The hospital is the biggest hospital in the area, so I thought the service would at least be descent. When we got there, no one helped us get Johanna out of the car, and instead just laughed at us, as it was a struggle because she is a larger woman. Then, we had to find our own wheelchair. The emergency room was a small room with no doctors and no nurses but several sick patients who had been half helped. All of the cabinets with syringes and medicines were open as well. I had to pay for the doctor to access her medical records, then I had to pay for every individual test. It was ridiculous. I stayed there with her and the two teachers, Jenny and Aurelia who had came with as well as one of the volunteers for three hours. Still, nothing had happened. Then, we finally got her admitted to the ward, where there nurses in matching pink, who looked like they were about 15. Next to our bed, in the ward, or rather the hallway was a really sick young girl, they just seemed to plop on the table. I don't think they were bad doctors and nurses but rather severely under-staffed. It was an interesting experience. Strangely, the next night, Eva told me she was going to visit her grandmother at St. Joseph's, a private hospital in the area I lived in. We walked there with juice and fruit because the hospitals do not provide much food to the families. This was a nicer experience in a strange way. This hospital seemed more put together, at least in the small room that was geriatrics, except my friends who I went on Safari with, who are med students had been working there, and told me that was not the case. Her grandmother was only 67 but I thought she was my grandmother's age and in her 90s. She wet the bed while I was there, kept forgetting who I was, and could not eat on her own. Her face was tired and her body was frail. Eva told me she had the pressure, which is what everyone says they have. I think something to do with chronic high blood pressure, which is common because of all the oil in the food. Life here is difficult and the state of the elderly is exemplar of that. In the small geriatrics room, I ran into a masai woman I knew. She is a member of one of the vicoba banks at WEECE, the masai one obviously. She was wearing her traditional long masai earrings, jewelery and shuka and she recognized me immediately. We sang some vicoba songs together, and I think the sick, elderly people really enjoyed it. We sang mama ni bebe, the song I sang before with the vicoba about the women carrying everything on her back, physically and metaphorically. Also, I come home in 3 weeks! See you soon!