Tanzania Day 10 -  Learning and Discovery

Today was our day for being immersed in the local culture of Tanzania. First we visited a primary school which is supported by the Grand Circle Foundation, the parent organization of Overseas Adventure Travel.  GCF supports schools, orphanages, community organizations all over the world where they send travelers.  We had a great visit at the school, starting with a talk by the Head Teacher (aka Principal) and then followed by visits to the classrooms.  Those of our group who are K-12 teachers went off to classrooms and did a short lesson with the kids.  The rest of us visited several classrooms and the children sang for us and we had some chance with the older ones to do questions back and forth. After we left the school we went to an outdoor field in Karatu and watched a performance of African dance and acrobatics performed by a local group. After we left there we visited a local market in Karatu where the local folks shop for food, household goods, spices, clothing etc.  From there we went to visit a local Iraqw tribal family.  To get there they had us ride the Tanzanian version of a tuk tuk, the three wheeled vehicle popular in Asia. The locals use them as taxis because they are much cheaper than taxis.   When we got to the village, the assistant chief of the village met us and spoke to us about village life and how they make bricks which they then sell all over Tanzania.  The soil here is rich, red volcanic soil, and it makes very good bricks, apparently.  We then went to the assistant chief's home and met his wife and some of his 8 children and learned about the life of the Iraqw tribe, who originated in Ethiopia.  The chief is a musician and he sang songs for us and he and his wife and daughters sang and danced.  They then got all of us up and joining in as well.  His wife and daughters dressed all the women in the traditional African fabrics that women wear, including the skirt like garment worn at the waist and the headscarf African style.  The fabrics are very colorful.  

Tomorrow we head back to Arusha where we will have our last African lunch and then have access to day rooms to shower and get ready to leave.  Our flight out is 9:45 PM.  So the fun is over now and we're just in travel home mode.