Kids of Africa!

One of the most beautiful thing that we saw in Tanzania since the first day we land there were...THE KIDS!! 

Yes they were the sweetest thing ever on earth because when we used to pass on the street the first day on the bus they waved us with a huge smile on the face without even knowing who we were or where we were coming from! Or even when we used to pass with our jeep true the small villages or anywhere we went...they always waved the hands and screamed a loud "CIAOO!" 

For us it was really surprising because if you go around here in Italy waving, smiling and saying "hi" to every one that you don't know they would probably call the police! No, noot reeeally the police...maybe someone...but the people around you would surely think that you are crazy or have some mental problems for smiling so much like we did in Tanzania! 

Not only the kids were waving us but even adults used to wave as too! Exactly like the kids...but without screaming "CIAOO!" :D

Here some of the pics that I took of the kids of our village and around where we went! (The kids were... EVERYWHERE... and... EVERY TIIIME! Like little... frogs!)

 

 

♥

Safari in Tanzania!

Safari in Tanzania was really beautiful! But we were not lucky enough to see some of the most famous animals in Africa like...hyenas, rhinos, CHEETAHS and LIONS!! 

I know! What a pitty...but it was anybodys fault because we went all around the park and they were anywhere! I really don't know where they were hide because there weren't that many trees and the "grass" was very short! Maybe it was a liittle bit our fault 'cause we went there right in the afternoon when the sun is burning everything! 

I'll show you the pics that I took in Mikumi national park:

The Amazing AFRICAN SUNSET!

♥

Amazing Experience 😅

It's timee for you guys to know what I did last month! Are you readyyy? Exactly 1 month and 4 days ago I came back frooom...TANZANIA!! Yes, I WENT TO TANZANIA FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! Yaaaay!  \(^_^)/

I mean who has the opportunity to see a country in Africa, not for a normal holiday vacation maybe in those 5 stars hotel near the ocean...NO! But for an amazing VOLUNTEER SERVICE experience in a remote village in the middle of the nature!? I DID! And it was the most meaningful, special and...and speechless journey that I've ever done! 

I have always travelled since I was 14 months old but I have always done: Italy-->Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka-->Italy, that's all! Yes...I've always transited in different cities (Vienna, Paris, Dubai, Qatar, Amman, Kuwait, Male) but I've never gone out from the airport for a vitis around...not even once! What a shaaame (T_T)

Aaaanywaays ◕ ¸ ◕ it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! For real, I think I won't ever stop telling this! I'm like crazy of Africa...you can't really understand when people talk about "Africa sickness" until you try it yourself! 

My school organize every year, for the students of the 4th year of high school, this trip for volunteer service in Tanzania...and every year 10/11 students spend three weeks of July in this Stimatine missionary situated in a village called Msolwa! 

We were a group of 7 girls and 4 boys (17-18 years old). We knew each other but not that well because 5 were from "classical high school", 3 from "compute science high school" (I'm in that group) and 2 from "science high school" and a boyfriend of one of the girls...but after this journey, living together for 3 weeks and 24h/24h, we got to knew so well that I think thanks for this experience, now we are a family that shared everything in a unknown country and doing this thing for the first time ever! And...I LOVED IT! Maybe 'cause I'm an only child and even if my family is huge...I got to know how was having 6 big sisters and 4 big brothers! 

The 11 of us before the adventure began! (This was taken at our school the day of departure)

Us with our "BATMOBILE" ;D

One of the places where we worked! (Sunflower farm/field)

Us in the LAST week in Tanzania! We are all changed inside...FOREVER! (one of the boys was taking the pic)

  

We arrived there on the 11th of July to Dar Salaam (capital of Tanzania) and then we started our journey for Msolwa (the village where was our missionary) stopping by a small city called Morogoro. Our missionary was really nice and there was a Secondary School too runned always by the missionary! We were surrounded by so much nature that it reminded me of Sri Lanka and maybe this is one of the reasons why I loved Tanzania: because there were small little things that reminds me of Sri Lanka so bad!

We stayed there until the 1st of August and then we moved again to the capital because we had our flight on the 2nd. It was soo sad leaving the village where we stayed for almost 3 weeks because we (at least the most of us) felt like we were living there since forever. 

Every morning we woke up at 7 o'clock and then had breakfast at 7.30 am all together and then at 8 am we were leaving with our awesome white jeep for work.                              We were working most of the time in the fields; we planted, watered and covered small coffee plants and plants that in the future will give to the local people good quality wood or some times we were in the farm nearby and removing the seeds from the sunflowers! When we were doing the last thing (sunflower work), the other girls were going always crazy because we would find any type of bug or caterpillar! It was soo funny because when they were screaming the local women working with us were laughing too! XD ahaah! 

Working in the fields

Working at the farm!

Then at 12.30 am we used to go back at home and have always a great lunch, cooked by a woman called Stella.

 

Our smiling Stella and chef!

She was helped by 3 other women...this 4 women were all Tanzanian but they could cook like real Italian chefs! All what they cooked was amazing! But how you should already know I LOVE FOOD! 

Around 1 pm we always finished eating and until 2.30 o 3 pm we were free. In that gap of time we were always inside the missionary but all of us were doing different things: there was always a group of girls sunbathing in front of our house, 2 o 3 people washing the cloths, some were sleeping in the room or reading a book and then there was me and another girl o sometimes even another of the boys always...ALWAYS walking around the missionary. So we were inside the school or in the school playground, near the female dorms, behind the missionary or near the house of the sisters or even near the male dorm or even near the missionary's workshop and we were always talking...talking and talking or laughing and taking pics (that was me most of the time)! 

Then when it was 2.30 or 3 pm we always went around to explore! And our father (Don Zanon) the one who always organizes this volunteer trip in Tanzania (for 21 years now!!) brought us everywhere and showed us every single thing of the Yovi Valley (the valley where is located the missionary)! And he showed us:

• the monkey village
• the banana village
• the water falls
• the baobab village
• a lot of schools and churches that the missionary built true the past years
• a lot of villages
• a safari in Mikumi National Park
• an african wedding (and we were dressed like the Tanzanian woman!!)
• and a lot of other things!   

 Around 6 or 6.30 pm we were always back at the missionary because around 7 pm we always had dinner (tasty as always (⌒-⌒) )! But before dinner we were always down in the village...at the bar, sitting in front of our (mine and a couple of other friends' one) favourite drink: the STONEY TANGAWIZI!!!! ≧✯◡✯≦

 

MISSING YOUUU!

After dinner, most of the time, we usually were in the only wifi spot in the mission, uploading some pics that we took with the cell phone or chatting on facebook or facetiming with the family or friends until 10pm when the generator of the mission was switched off!

Yes! We had electricity but only at a certain time like in the morning from 6.30 am till 1.30 pm when the school needed. Then at 4 pm we had light for only 30 or 60 minutes and then again we had to wait till 6.30 pm and last we had light till 10 pm.

After 10 pm we were always together talking and laughing for stories around a fire that we built in the afternoon usually after our walks. It was amazing and fun because we were surrounded by the nature...far away from this technological world that sometimes let you forget of the simple things that are as great as internet, cellphones and video games! 

Have you ever heard about the night sky in Africa? Never?? Well...IT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD!!!!! 

I'll show you why with a photo taken from one the boys called Enrico Marcantoni (he has a Canon D650)

AMAZING! This was taken form one of the guys that come with me

On saturday and sunday we didn't work and we went always out on adventures! On sunday morning we always went to see the mass and the african mass it's awEsome! Full of dance moves, music, ladies screaming in the typical african way and it was just a beautiful moment to be at (AND I'M A BUDDHIST)!

I really really enjoyed staying there! Every single thing that we did it was amazing and there are so many other things to talk about...REALLY! MANY OTHER THINGS!! I know that all the things that I said about Africa are things that many other people have said but you really can't understand the feelings that every single of us felt staying there! You must try it yourself to understand it!

I think I've got AFRICA SICKNESS!! (Ç_Ç)

I want to thanks my parent for sending me there...especially my MOM! THANK YOU MOM!! 

sad days :'[

I'm sorry! I didn't post anything for a really looong time! And a lot has been gone on this past one or two months! Happy and bad as well :'(

The happy thing...I'll talk about it in the next post but today I want to write about the very bad thing that hit our family...my dear nanda (nanda= in srilankan is aunty) DIED! She was my dad's big sister  and I had to tell him that his sister passed away all of a sudden! 

And what do you say in this occasions?? "I'm sorry"?! But sorry for what?? 

NO! This is not what do I feel! I felt sad, frustrated and guilty because I couldn't see her for 3 years and I think the worst thing to be a srilankan born and raise in Italy or in any other country that is not Sri Lanka, is that in occasions like this we can't just take a car for a 30 minutes ride and go see them! No!! We have to buy a 700-900 € ticket and then after 10-14 hours of flight we get there!! But it's anyways sad because you don't go there for an holiday but just for a funeral of a very loved person!! And...I know I kept telling this but it's sad...R.E.A.L.L.Y SAD! 

I know this is life: born, grow up, built a family, create great memories with all the people that you really really love but with just a thing called "death"...the people that you create memories with are...distorted inside with all the sadness of the world! 

I can tell all this because I saw it in my dad's eyes! He is a chef and now here in Italy is high summer season so he couldn't just leave the work place for a few days 'course otherwise he would lose the job! No...he wouldn't :) but...you know...is not fun not having a chef in a kitchen in high season! 

So yeah...what could we do? Nothing...I think it's just...L.I.F.E! Now the important thing is not thinking about the bad things but let's just think how MUCH YOU LOVED (and still love) even if I couldn't show it every time! 

So what I want to tell at the end is...to the people that you think are important show them THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THAT YOU FEEL FOR THEM...ALWAYS! 

Yes...that's all I guess! Just for the last time...I'LL MISS YOU NANDA! <3 <3 :)

Oh shoot! I wish I had a beautiful picture of her right now!! 

♥