- Getting to Cantabria… A quick road trip… that’s all it took, but with stops galore and unexpected turns… it turned out to be an adventure! We said goodbye to the dogs and their keeper before stepping out in trusty Dhano. Few hours in, we got away from feezing sierra weather to bright blue skies and green green grass! Steps Choco Views Music room.
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Getting to Cantabria… A quick road trip… that’s all it took, but with stops galore and unexpected turns… it turned out to be an adventure! We said goodbye to the dogs and their keeper before stepping out in trusty Dhano. Few hours in, we got away from feezing sierra weather to bright blue skies and green green grass! Steps Choco Views Music room.Related Posts
- On the last day, I rose to bid goodbye to everyone as they followed their routine. Mass in Swahili. A fond farewell to the 3 lovely nuns. Brother and Mary looked after the animals and the kids lined up for porridge as always. Agatha in the kitchen. The priests who came down to bid us aideu. The tailor and his ever smiling, energetic little boy. In just a couple of weeks I felt I got to know them. Their habits, their personalities, their smiles. I will always be grateful for this time that I got to spend with them. I will always look back on this experience and smile. As we drove to the airport, the now-familiar sights of the city filled me with a bit of melancholy. I know that one day, I will be back.
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On the last day, I rose to bid goodbye to everyone as they followed their routine. Mass in Swahili. A fond farewell to the 3 lovely nuns. Brother and Mary looked after the animals and the kids lined up for porridge as always.Agatha in the kitchen. The priests who came down to bid us aideu. The tailor and his ever smiling, energetic little boy.In just a couple of weeks I felt I got to know them. Their habits, their personalities, their smiles.I will always be grateful for this time that I got to spend with them. I will always look back on this experience and smile.As we drove to the airport, the now-familiar sights of the city filled me with a bit of melancholy. I know that one day, I will be back.Related Posts
Mass, Market, Match
Phew … what a day! 2 masses, all because I promised the Swahili choir that I would come to hear them. The other mass was with smaller kids in a different boarding school. I was in awe. Both times. The choir was as uplifting as I expected them to be after hearing them practice. A short drive later and we were at the boarding school for primary kids. Clean, happy kids awaited father as we joined them for mass. The choir director was a young girl who took her job very seriously. I was seated behind the percussionsts who took turns beating on a homemade drum, swiveling it around ever so often just so that everyone got equal opportunity to belt out a rhythm. I so regret not shooting them, but it just didn’t seem appropriate. The little kids sang with gusto that’s difficult to find in other places. And I must say, I was impressed with their perfect responses to “what happened last week”. Father rightly so awarded them with a teeny-weeny tip for getting it right. We also met a little guy who walked in late, sat apart, and left as soon as mass was over. I would have loved to get to know his story, but from the way he was treated, he needed the space. I really hope he gets over his trauma. It broke my heart to watch a 4 year old so wary of affection. After mass we talked with the kids, but they were too tiny to understand what we were talking about, so we switched tactics and went for photos instead. They LOVED it. I remember shooting then joining them and all of a sudden I felt 20 hands in my hair. It was so astonishing. They danced and sang and posed and fawned over us. It was so good to see the well behaved children break out from their shy molds and become the happy, energetic bunch they are! Breakfast was beautiful and too much for four. So glad Father didn’t let the nuns know we were coming. They prepared enough for 1 person. LOL. A final goodbye and we were off to the school. Time for my talk. I had the same questions asked by so many kids, so I decided to have one big session to talk about everything IT. Career options, Skills, et-al. Some slept through it. Some took copious amounts of notes. I’ll count it as a win 🙂 Good deed done, Father suggested i accompany him to a shop nearby. Although I was supposed to go meet Father Tasilo, I thought we’d be back soon and headed out with Father Filbert. At a crossroad Father F decided he’s heading left and taking us to the beach. I’m glad he did. It was a chance to see the other side of Dar es Salam. New mansions, embassies, affluence. TIL that the Maori LOVE the beach. It was great to see them walking the beach in their traditional wear. https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_163654.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_164634.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_165751.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170108.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170447.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170829.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_171123.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_171233.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172142.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172516.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172854.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172940.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_173127.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_174358.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_174525.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175145.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175241.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175321.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175412.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_181457.mp4 A walk around the beautiful beach, the cove and a chance to see how differently people used the beach as compared to Europeans. I love such glimpses into culture. There were very few bathing suits. More people walking on the sand than there were in the water. Happy kids screeching with delight. Vendors hawking their goods. People posing for photos. So much life. So much respect for each other’s boundaries. Beach to shop it was… a chance for me to fall in love with a mask.Related Posts
Mass, Market, Match
Phew … what a day! 2 masses, all because I promised the Swahili choir that I would come to hear them. The other mass was with smaller kids in a different boarding school. I was in awe. Both times. The choir was as uplifting as I expected them to be after hearing them practice. A short drive later and we were at the boarding school for primary kids. Clean, happy kids awaited father as we joined them for mass. The choir director was a young girl who took her job very seriously. I was seated behind the percussionsts who took turns beating on a homemade drum, swiveling it around ever so often just so that everyone got equal opportunity to belt out a rhythm. I so regret not shooting them, but it just didn’t seem appropriate. The little kids sang with gusto that’s difficult to find in other places. And I must say, I was impressed with their perfect responses to “what happened last week”. Father rightly so awarded them with a teeny-weeny tip for getting it right. We also met a little guy who walked in late, sat apart, and left as soon as mass was over. I would have loved to get to know his story, but from the way he was treated, he needed the space. I really hope he gets over his trauma. It broke my heart to watch a 4 year old so wary of affection. After mass we talked with the kids, but they were too tiny to understand what we were talking about, so we switched tactics and went for photos instead. They LOVED it. I remember shooting then joining them and all of a sudden I felt 20 hands in my hair. It was so astonishing. They danced and sang and posed and fawned over us. It was so good to see the well behaved children break out from their shy molds and become the happy, energetic bunch they are! Breakfast was beautiful and too much for four. So glad Father didn’t let the nuns know we were coming. They prepared enough for 1 person. LOL. A final goodbye and we were off to the school. Time for my talk. I had the same questions asked by so many kids, so I decided to have one big session to talk about everything IT. Career options, Skills, et-al. Some slept through it. Some took copious amounts of notes. I’ll count it as a win 🙂 Good deed done, Father suggested i accompany him to a shop nearby. Although I was supposed to go meet Father Tasilo, I thought we’d be back soon and headed out with Father Filbert. At a crossroad Father F decided he’s heading left and taking us to the beach. I’m glad he did. It was a chance to see the other side of Dar es Salam. New mansions, embassies, affluence. TIL that the Maori LOVE the beach. It was great to see them walking the beach in their traditional wear. https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_163654.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_164634.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_165751.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170108.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170447.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_170829.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_171123.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_171233.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172142.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172516.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172854.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_172940.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_173127.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_174358.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_174525.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175145.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175241.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175321.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_175412.mp4 https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230813_181457.mp4 A walk around the beautiful beach, the cove and a chance to see how differently people used the beach as compared to Europeans. I love such glimpses into culture. There were very few bathing suits. More people walking on the sand than there were in the water. Happy kids screeching with delight. Vendors hawking their goods. People posing for photos. So much life. So much respect for each other’s boundaries. Beach to shop it was… a chance for me to fall in love with a mask.Related Posts
- Safari time Mikumi National park it was.
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Safari time Mikumi National park it was.Related Posts
Sunday…. phew… so many people, so few cars… we struggled to figure out the right combination, but finally it was B & I who made it to 8:30 mass at the Church nearby. 8:30 mass started at 9:18 because the 6:30 mass didn’t end on time, but gosh… that music… so uplifting… so beautiful! Here are some samples 🙂
Lab work followed and my fear at the assignment caused me to decline an invitation to visit the cathedral, exchange money and buy tickets. While my tripmates went out, I worked in the lab, collected a record number of eggs for a daily haul :P, danced with the kids and phew… they are amazing! Here is a view of the yard with the chickens and turkey clucking away. https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/20230806_173744.mp4 Here’s a link to the music they love to dance to:Related Posts
Sunday…. phew… so many people, so few cars… we struggled to figure out the right combination, but finally it was B & I who made it to 8:30 mass at the Church nearby. 8:30 mass started at 9:18 because the 6:30 mass didn’t end on time, but gosh… that music… so uplifting… so beautiful! Here are some samples 🙂
Lab work followed and my fear at the assignment caused me to decline an invitation to visit the cathedral, exchange money and buy tickets. While my tripmates went out, I worked in the lab, collected a record number of eggs for a daily haul :P, danced with the kids and phew… they are amazing! Here is a view of the yard with the chickens and turkey clucking away. https://lucille.galleli.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/20230806_173744.mp4 Here’s a link to the music they love to dance to:Related Posts
- Saturday was time for mass in English. What I wasn’t expecting was to be introduced to the entire assembly. That intro got me a hello from a couple of Indian sisters who were visiting and subsequently an invitation to their house. It was also the day for a glimpse at the sordid past of Tanzania. A visit to Bagamoyo (“Bwaga-Moyo”) which means “Lay down your Heart” in Swahili. The original settlement was called Kaole, founded in 800AD, and grew into an important trading town by the 13th century. From Wikipedia, we get some more info: “The Kaole Ruins contain the remnants of two mosques and 30 tombs, dated back to the 13th century. Until the 18th century, Bagamoyo, the settlement 5 kilometres north of Kaole, was a small trading center where most of the population were fishermen and farmers. Their main trading goods were fish, salt and gum, among others. Around the 17th century this area began growing in prosperity and by the 18th century it was an important stop in the caravan and slave trade, acquiring the name Bagamoyo. It became the most important trading entrepot of the east central coast of Africa in the late 19th century. In the late 18th century, Muslim families settled in Bagamoyo, all of whom were from Oman. They made their living by enforcing taxes on the native population and by trading in salt, gathered from the Nunge coast north of Bagamoyo. In the first half of the 19th century, Bagamoyo became a trading port for ivory and slave, with traders coming from the African interior – places as far as Morogoro, Lake Tanganyika and Usambara- on their way to Zanzibar. This explains the meaning of the word Bagamoyo (“Bwaga-Moyo”) which means “Lay down your Heart” in Swahili. It is disputed whether this refers to the slave trade which passed through the town (i.e. “give up all hope”) or to the porters who rested in Bagamoyo after carrying 16-kilogram (35 lb) cargoes on their shoulders from the Great Lakes region (i.e. “take the load off and rest”). There is considerable debate regarding the extent of the slave trade as a major export in Bagamoyo, with archival analysis suggesting that ivory was the primary export over slaves, and that many of the caravan porters on the ivory route were free wage laborers as opposed to slaves. However, the history of the slave trade features prominently in the shared culture of its residents and organizations such as UNESCO emphasize its importance as a cultural heritage site memorializing the slave trade in East Africa.” After visiting the tombs, the mangrooves, the museum and circling a humungus Baobab tree in the vicinity, it was zoo time. My heart broke at the little cages and the small enclosures where such majestic creatures were kept. Tanzania is beautiful, but in their eagerness to provide entertainment, they are making the same mistakes that other countries made decades ago. I really hope it can be fixed before the animals die out. We headed to a lunch right on a beachfront hotel run owned by priests. A thunderstorm caught us by surprise, but hey … that’s coastal weather for you. A chance to taste King Fish and Serengeti beer while watching the fishermen haul in their catch for the day. A photosession that had us in splits and back to the school it was, just in time to hear the choirs – yes… Swahili and English choirs practice for their upcoming masses. It’s amazing how all of them have such amazing voices and skin and smiles. One more evening of responding to curious questions, feeling kids tug on my hair and fawn over India. Views of the city on the way back: Choir practicing for their next performance: