Africa & Coffee Articles VI

Africa:

• International Tanganyika Grade 4 Blog - Lucy's work blog has just been discovered!  It covers all four sections of Grade 4, but Lucy's posts are by far the bests (her class is 4-BL).  Check out the most recent post on the kids' newspaper articles on speakers that came in to tell them about Tanzania.  Unfortunately, I was unable to present on the Tanzanian coffee industry since I was out of town but our roommate Jacie stepped in to talk to the kids (Seems none of Lucy's kids wrote on coffee but there are some stories here).

• Huffington Post: From Rwanda to Libya: Who's Calling Whom a Cockroach Now? (3/1/11) - The documentary on the Rwandan Genocide cited in this article (Coexist) is not on Netflix but certainly sounds interesting.

• The East African: Dar on Brink of Darkness as Power Crisis Deepens (2/28/11) - The power cuts have been quite bad since it hasn't really rained in about four months.  Thankfully we have a generator that runs our refrigerator, fans, and lights (but not our stove or A/C).  Two weeks ago we did get a gas hotplate so we have been able to use it to cook when the power is out.

• WSJ: Danish Sailboat Hijacked in Indian Ocean (2/28/11) - Pirates are now interested in civilian leisure sailboats, not just big tankers.

• WSJ: Ivory Coast Lurches Toward Civil War (2/25/11) - Pretty wild that this has gone on for three months with no real end in sight.

• NYTimes: New Violence as Strongman of Ivory Coast Fights Ouster (2/23/11) - Ivory Coast was front and center on the news for a while but with Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Libya stirring the pot the news doesn't seem to care about Ivory Coast anymore.  Well, the incumbent President, who seems to have lost the election but won't turn over power, is still around and the guy who won continues to run a second government out of a hotel.  Anyway....it is still going on and eventually it will affect everyone as the prices Snickers and Green & Blacks are going to increase as cocoa prices continue to skyrocket (Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer).

• WSJ: Pirate Attack Force Leisure Sailors to Change Course (2/23/11) - Pirates are really not messing around.

• BBC: Tanzania Blasts: At Least 20 Dead in Dar es Salaam (2/17/11) - These explosions noticeably shook our house even though we are about 10 miles from the airport.  The neighborhood where the munitions depot is located would definitely termed low income and  was largely wiped out, leaving people homeless and pretty devastated.  There have been blood and clothes drives on going since the explosions.  The picture below was likely taken from an apartment building near our house and made it all the way to CNN (CNN: Explosions at Munitions Depot Rock District Near Dar es Salaam Airport).

Recent 4th Grade Highlights

As part of our "Survival Under Pressure" unit on plants, animals, and peoples that survive in extreme climates, we've been learning about heat, heat transfer, and insulation. IST doesn't have lab science until sixth grade, so designing and helping execute science experiments falls to me. Last week, my students applied their knowledge to the task of designing and building ice cube insulators. I was so impressed by their engagement, focus, and creativity.

As you can see below, our "control" ice cube did not fare well in the Dar es Salaam heat. It melted after only 15 minutes. But the winning insulator kept an ice cube solid for almost three hours! Way to go Bryce and Sean!

My fourth graders are currently learning about Tinga Tinga style painting in Art class. Renato painted this Tinga Tinga nameplate for me himself. It made my day.

Survived: Kilimanjaro Half Marathon

We returned Sunday from a great weekend in the northern part of Tanzania near the Kenya border and had an excellent half marathon experience.  We arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport, which is pretty much halfway between Arusha and Moshi, on Friday afternoon.

You can see how "international" the airport is as people are just roaming the tarmac (including Lucy and our running friend Diana).

We took the Precision Air shuttle bus to Arusha for supper at a boutique hotel called The Bay Leaf that had been recommended to us by Matt and Nena (our housemates in Rwanda).

I had Kenyan beef and Lucy had a stuffed chicken dish.  Both were pretty good and the atmosphere was very pleasant, but it did not surpass Brew Bistro in Nairobi as the best restaurant we have been to East Africa.  We ate at Brew Bistro twice when we were in town over Christmas and would highly recommend it to anyone.