Mackenzie
Mackenzie Wallace Joined: June 9th 2009
Logged in: August 18th 2009
Logged in: August 18th 2009
I shine, not burn.
Travel Blog Posts
7/26/09: Well, if you can believe it, it's somehow the day before my departure from Africa and my arrival in Israel. How it got from June 17th to today, I have no idea...but it seems to have gone by so fast. It's a bit depressing and making matters worse is the fact that everyone has left and I'm sitting here alone and bored. Luckily, Solomon is going to call me later and have me come out to dinner with him and his brother and his brother's girlfriend. I told him last night I was going to be alone tonight and he said "oh no no, you'll come out to dinner with us." He's such a nice guy. So yesterday day wasn't anything exciting....just packing, laundry-ing, relaxing, hanging out with everyone. Milan gave some of us girls ... read more
7/24/09: Hello all, time for the daily blog. To pick up where I left off yesterday... After discovering the ICTR was closed, Jessie, Tom, Carrie and I decided to walk to a shopping complex called Njiro, where the cinema is. It was like a 3km walk, but we had nothing else to do. Along the way we passed the Kilimanjaro Brewery so we tried to see if we could get a tour. The brewery was like a maximum security prison! More security at the brewery than at the ICTR I swear. Anyhow, we couldn't get a tour because we weren't an "official group" so we'd have to write a letter asking for permission. We continued on the road to Njiro and got some nice sight seeing in....anything that's away from Arusha makes me happy so even ... read more
7/23/09: Well as you all may have noticed, I haven't done a blog update since Monday...the reason? The lull has set in! So for a quick run through...Tuesday we didn't have class, so Emily and I slept in (unfortunately missing breakfast) but we decided to go to Via Via for lunch and coffee. We each had a delicious sandwich and when we first got there their coffee machine wasn't working, but the somehow managed to fix it and brew coffee just for us. It tasted a bit stale, but I was happy to have something other than instant (though I do love my Africafe and will be bringing some home). I'm going to take some pictures of Via Via before we leave so you can all see why we like it so much...it's just a beautiful ... read more
7/20/09: Well as luck would have it, the internet is LIGHTENING speed tonight, so the pictures are up! I took about 190, but I only posted 65 of the really good ones. Hope you all enjoy!!! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090788&id=24706605&l=3540522de0... read more
7/20/09: Jammmbooo Short entry for today because I feel like yesterday took a lot out of everyone who read it. The most important thing for today was the speaker that we had, which was arranged by myself, with the fabulous help of Dr. Max Hilaire. After the speaker from the defense at the ICTR had to cancel a few weeks ago, I emailed Dr. Hilaire and told him we were disappointed. As he has contacts just about everywhere, he informed me he knew a man who was on the defense counsel and he would put me in touch with him. I emailed Mr. Charles Taku and got him in touch with my professor, and was able to facilitate a visit. He spoke to us this morning and gave us such a different point of view from ... read more
7/18/09: Habari za asabuhi? (Good morning / news of the morning?) Well our exciting safari adventure started in the early morning…we were packed and down at breakfast by 8:30. I was really tired because I hadn’t sleep well the night before and was really looking forward to coffee and the usual omelet. Luckily breakfast was no indication of how the rest of the day would go; my usual delicious omelet was sour and rotten smelling…I didn’t really get as far as tasting. But at least I got my coffee in… By 9am we were on the road to Tarangiere. Talk about rural; once we really go outside of Arusha, we would drive and past vast open expanses, with no signs of human life, sometimes for miles. Only the occasional Maasi with his cattle, or the thatched ... read more
7/19/09: Hamjambooo I know you're all waiting for it (or at least I'm going to pretend you're all waiting for it) and the safari blog will be happening soon. I'm going to write it tonight in bed, or tomorrow after class and then post it. I'm just too exhausted to do it all right now. Pictures, which there are a ton of, will hopefully be following not long after. Looking forward to sharing my awesome safari experience with you all!! Kwaheri! 333... read more
7/17/09: Hamjambo everyone. Time for a blog session...I think I'm behind a day or so.. 7/16/09: Today was our last day of presentations for class. They were really good and very thorough...I think the best ones were today. Emily's especially, my roommate, her presentation was AMAZING. She did it on the "largest hospital" in Northern Tanzania, one that caters for almost 11 million people....but don't think it was anything like a US hospital. She made such great recommendations for how they could improve in each sector, I told her she should seriously send her presentation to the director at the hospital. Taina, my other roommate, also did a great job. Sipho embarrassed me and Emily again in front of everyone, telling them we got 29 out of 30...again, not a fan of the public praise. But ... read more
7/15/09: Hamjambo everyone, hope all is well. Today was a good day. I had my presentation, so I dressed up a bit (Mom, the skirt we bought from H and M looked so cute!!). I've been a bit confused by some of the presentations so far...mostly for two reasons: 1. people have been SITTING at the table and 2. People have been reading directly off slides!! Now maybe it's just me, but I'm fairly confident that most of my professors in college would NOT have been very happy with a student who both sat down, and read directly from their slides when giving a presentation. I know this isn't the most formal setting, but how are you going to get good at formal presentations if you don't practice?? Needless to say, I had my slides pretty ... read more
7/14/09: Greetings all...today was a bit of a dull day, not much to report on. As usual, Emily and I stayed up late chatting, but once I finally fell asleep I was woken up by consistent stomach pains. This morning I found myself in the fetal position unable to move. Emily made the executive decision that I should miss class (we're doing presentations and it was only a half day) and rest. I couldn't tell you what was wrong with me, but it hurt like hell. I'm guessing something I ate...? In any case, I missed class, but headed up to the center around 12:30 to finish up my project, as I'm slated to present tomorrow. On my way home I stopped at the market for some peanut butter, jelly, water and some candy for my ... read more
