It's been a long time!

Sorry that i haven't written in awhile! I've been really busy! It is so beautiful here and all of the people are so nice!
Let's do a recap of what I've been doing lately!

A couple of days ago on the 7th we went to a market in Karatu. It was so insane. I have never seen that many people in one market in my life. We drove up in our cruisers and the second that we got there a lot of sellers approached us and were trying to sell us bracelets and necklaces and cloth. I had a fun time walking around with Nicky and Mikayla looking for awesome 80's clothes which we easily found. Our S.A.M. Erica told us that we would find a lot of 80's clothing so we made that our mission. I got a sweet reversible jacket that is purple and teal and also a sweet pink and purple cheetah print skirt. Nicky got a similar jacket and a velvet turtle neck as well as a BRIGHT green hat that said Key West on it. It was so interesting to be sorting through these huge piles of clothing with things on them like Spurs and Scooby Doo. The whole time the people there were calling us mzungo which means white person in Swahili. They were really surprised that we knew what they were saying to us. It was really cool to be able to use our swahili. As we loaded back into the cars after getting our purchases a lot of men were still trying to sell us things and would try to get our attention by knocking on the windows or sticking their hands into the window.

On the 9th we went on our first game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. It was so beautiful. We got to open the tops of the cruisers and stand on the seats the whole time that we were driving around the parks. The first animals that we saw were Baboons. The little ones were so cute but the big alpha ones were so scary! It made me think of Tarzan and Jane. We saw elephants after that. We spotted the first elephant and we were so excited to see one but then another one came out of the bushes followed by a baby elephant. It was so amazing. I couldn't believe that we were so close to the wildlife and they even crossed the road right in front of us. We then saw a huge amount of animals including Hippos, Blue Monkeys, Impalas, Vervet Monkeys, Warthogs, Zebras, Giraffes, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, DikDiks, Mongoose, and A LEOPARD! It is really rare to see a Leopard especially during the day. Usually they just sit in one spot and don't move but as we were driving slowly down the road in the jungle area we saw the leopard run across the road. It was a flash I literally only saw it for 3 seconds tops but it was so beautiful.


On the 10th we went back to Lake Manyara National Park to observe Baboons. We sat and watched them for about an hour and a half. We were using the scanning method to look at them so every five minutes we would right down the major and minor activity of the group and also the activity of the alpha male. The first group that we watched was about 70 baboons and then as we had to leave we saw a huge number of them crossing a field. I would say about 150 of them. It was so crazy. We have seen a lot of Baobob trees. They are so huge and beautiful! I wish that I could sit in one all day.

On the 12th we went to a Maasai Boma. The women greeted us with a song as we walked into the Boma. They were then joined by the junior and senior warriors of the boma who also sang while also jumping up and down one at a time. One of our teachers Yohanna and two of the men who drive our cars Wilson and Charles also joined the men as they are Maasai. It was really cool to see them in there. A couple of the kids from my program also joined in. The girls got to dance with the women and wear neck jewelry and the boys got to jump up and down with the men. I have a video of it that I will try to upload it soon.
The mammas then allowed us to have a tour of their houses. The women make the houses themselves all from natural materials. Most of the houses are made of mud and sticks and are actually really strong. Inside of the houses we saw where they cook, store things, and also where they sleep. We then got to ask the mammas questions about their culture and what they think about wildlife management. It was interesting to hear what they had to say. They talked about the relationship that they have with AWF (Africa Wildlife Foundation) and also with a local ranch. The AWF helps them to get water and supplies and the ranch allows them to get good prices for the their bulls. These partnerships allow them to see the importance of wildlife conservation ensuring that wildlife conservation will actually happen.

Later that day we went to the school that is right down the road from our camp at Moyo Hills. All of the kids were so happy to see us when we got there. We went into a fifth grade class room and sat down with 3 kids. The girls that I sat with were named Ayrini, Magrita, and Anna. They were so cute and they taught me how to count to 50 and also how to tell time. Telling time in Swahili is really hard. The hours are different. After learning the numbers we went outside and they played a lot of games with us. We learned songs and also played red rover. We sang this one song in a big circle while holding hands. We went around the circle from kid to kid and they had to do a little dance. Those kids can move in ways that I only dream of. They're really good at moving their hips and dancing. Some of the other people on the program played soccer with the kids. The kids are really good. There was a lot of slide tackling and it was really intense.

We have had about a week of class and we already have 4 assignments but I don't mind because they're all pretty interesting things. I am taking Wildlife Ecology, Wildlife Management, Environmental Policy, and Swahili and Culture. I really like learning swahili. Its a really cool language and I think I am going to continue taking it when I get home. I have a quiz today in swahili! We have to great each other and then say the time. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow we have the day off for Valentine's day and we are going to go on a hike to Elephant Cave Waterfall and then after that we are going to another Boma and then a restaurant in town called Happy Days were we can get Cheeseburgers! I can't wait!

Foods I miss from home: cheese, sushi, PIZZA.

I miss you all and I hope that everyone is doing well :)
Happy Valentines Day!
No regrets. Just love.
Courtney

Tanzania!

I am so excited that we are finally here! Its been 4 long days of traveling but it was all worth it! I love it here. I love the people, the environment, the animals, the smells, the sounds. It's so incredible. I am so lucky to have this opportunity. Hopefully I'll put up some pictures soon!
Greg is playing wagon wheel right now! SHOUT OUT TO LUNA DISC! i miss youuuu
I hope everyone at home isn't dying with all the snow!
Send me your addresses! i would love to send letters and postcards :)
love,
court

London!

I made it to the airport in London! Just waiting to catch our flight to Nairobi right nowwww!
The flight to London was really cool. Virgin Atlantic is a great airline! I got to watch a movie and I got cool freebies and dinner! Talk to you when I'm in Tanzania!

take 2

Hopefully today will work out better then yesterday! So far the flights are still on :) Need to get out of here before the weather gets even worse then it is now. Headed out in a little bit to got to Providence to take the amtrak to the airport. Miss everyone already! Cross your fingers for me :)

I'm ready to gooooooo. hearts and stuff <3

2 MORE DAYZZZ

I really can't wait until I get to go to Tanzania on Tuesday. I'm almost all packed and it really feels like I'm just sitting waiting to go now. It's nice to have some time with my family though and to enjoy the cape cod scenery. I'm just sitting, waiting, wishing. It feels really weird to be home while everyone is abroad or at school. I guess I feel like I'm just in transition. I'll be really glad when January is over. It's been pretty long and cold. I hope the rest of this year goes better, glass half full. I'm trying to work on summer plans right now. so far I have two interviews for environmental education camps. One in New Hampshire and one in Wellfleet, MA. It'd be nice to be on the cape for the summer but we'll see. The summer is pretty far away.
My brother Ben and I are watching some comedy central and iron man at the same time haha. My dad, brother, and I watched The Town today. It was a great movie and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
I'm going to finish packing the rest of my stuff tomorrow and then I'm going out to diner with Linda and my mom for my birthday (early). I can't believe I'm going to be 21 in a couple of months it's crazy!
Sending my love to all my loves from home and at Smith. I miss you guys already and I can't wait to hear all about everyone's spring semesters.
As my girl Katy Perry says:
 No regrets. Just Love.
Courtney

Last shot!

Got my last rabies shot today! Current temperature in Pocasset, MA 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Current temperature in Manyara, Tanzania 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Only a 43 degree difference, no big.

Write to me!

Here are my addresses for both Tanzania and Kenya! 
I will be in Tanzania until mid-march and then I will be in Kenya! 

Courtney Faria 

 SFS Center for Wildlife Management Studies, 

P.O. Box 304 KARA TU, TANZANIA East Africa

Courtney Faria 

 Center for Wildlife Management Studies 

P.O. Box 27743 (Nyayo Stadium) 00506 –– NAIROBI, KENYA East Africa