Hi, I'm Catie, I'm a student in New Zealand and Moya wanted some blogs to share so you could see what HAPA is all about. I had an amazing time and I think that comes across in my journal! I was in Africa from July 27th until September 28th and then headed to Europe so click on 2008 in the list on the left and start in July to read about Tanzania.
Reading is nowhere near as good as experiencing - go raise your money and get to Singida as soon as possible, I guarantee you'll love it. Get in touch if you have any questions.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Home again
Made it safely home with no hiccups at all, met at the airport by an enthusiastic family and one dedicated friend. It's very strange to be home and know where everything is and how to get places without a map! Nice strange, but strange.
I start studying in about a month and until then I'm a free spirit who needs to find a part time job. Looking forward to catching up with all my friends, except the ones I left behind all over the world!
So thanks for reading what I wrote and hopefully I'll see everyone again soon! Well... give me three years or so.
I start studying in about a month and until then I'm a free spirit who needs to find a part time job. Looking forward to catching up with all my friends, except the ones I left behind all over the world!
So thanks for reading what I wrote and hopefully I'll see everyone again soon! Well... give me three years or so.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
The Bronx is up and the Battery's down
Hey all... This will probably be my last post! Bit sad I know but exciting too. Oh, actually I guess I'll post a quick one to let people know if I got home alright so this is only last trip post.
I'm in New York!!! It's a very exciting and kind of crazy city, I'm not sure I'd want to live here but it's certainly full of energy. Drivers swear at each other all the time, everything is in lights and the skyline is very impressive.
I arrived Wednesday afternoon and headed for my hostel on the upper west side near Central Park. Couldn't check in until 3pm so I dumped bags and went out to explore. Walked to Times Square - way too many bright signs. Even the police station and the subway signs were lit up.
Checked out the Broadway ticket sales place where you can get last minute half price tickets, lots of tempting options! Decided to a) wait a couple nights and b) try to see Hedda Gabler, reviewed in New Yorker and the magazine on my train.
I kept going south and found Macy's and the Empire State Building. I did not go up the latter because it cost $20 - they didn't show that bit in Sleepless in Seattle! It was only 5 euro to climb St Peter's dome so I don't know what New York thinks it's got that's better than Rome. I got a few good pictures and a postcard of NY from above to make up for not seeing it myself.
Thursday I headed to the Metropoliton Museum of Art for about 4 hours - it was great! A really eclectic mix from ancient Egyptian (Temple of Dandur - rescued from yearly flooding) to Modern (I saw Andy Warhol's Mao) it was a lot of fun. Decided to head toward the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) with stops along the way at Tiffany & co. (it looks much as it did when Audrey ate a pastry in front of it) and FAO Schwartz which was pretty impressive, I'd have bought a full size light saber if it would fit in my bag!
MoMA was amazing! Reminded of me of the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice and the Centre Pompidou in Paris - not surprising I guess since they're also modern art meccas. A whole room of Pollock, very overwhelming. Warhol, Jackson Jones, Rothko... it was very fun. And really weird, I ran into a friend from Christchurch who went to high school with me! Hamish and I did debating together and he's touring the US with his sister to look at potential physics programmes. And we ran into each other on an escalator in New York! Crazy world.An old friend, or really the daughter of an old friend of Mum's, lives in NY and I got in touch with her, unfortunately she is out of town for the week. She did however set me up with one of her friends, Jocelyn, who kindly agreed to meet me for coffee and a chat. We met at a cafe on 57th and Lexington and talked about our lives for two hours. It was fun, felt like I actually belonged a a little to the city. Dinner was pizza and then I wandered around Midtown until heading back to the hostel.
Yesterday was Friday and it was freezing cold - a guy in Italy told me that New York is warm but he lied. I went to the Guggenheim in the morning and did a tour that talked about the beginnings of modernism. Very interesting! That was until about 12 and I went backto MoMA because I accidentally kept the audioguide and decided I better take it back! There's a store there full of awesomeness so I browsed for ages and bought a little journal before heading towards Times Sq for cheap tickets. They didn't open until 3pm so I walked through the Virgin Megastore, which is totally insane. Huge! And it was really really cool to see a whole display of Flight of the Concords merchandise, including a t-shirt which said "New Zealand's Greatest Export." I got a ticket to Hedda Gabler and headed downtown to look at Wall St and the World Trade Centre sight. It was interesting to walk around the area, I remembered seeing the news etc. on the day.
The play was absolutely stunning! Mary Louise Parker was beautiful and captivating, the characters were fascinating. I really enjoyed the show, and the cheap seats were pretty darn good. So I've seen a show on the West End and one on Broadway now, two lifetime goals done. Of course there were SO many options at the ticket place, so much on Broadway and off that now I want to live in Toronto just so I can attend shows three times a year :)
Today is Saturday and I decided to explore the neighbourhoods I hadn't seen. Actually I spent a couple of hours on the subway having taken it the wrong way before finally arriving at the Staten Island Ferry for a close up with the Statue of Liberty. It was a fun round trip with lots of classic views, and free! Then I walked along the Brooklyn Bridge and walked around Brooklyn and Dumbo for a while, it was great! I found a little vintage market and then ate lunch looking over the harbour. A subway to Chinatown and I walked all the way through Soho and Greenwich Village up to Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building and the Library. Dinner on Broadway and back here to pack!
It has not been enough time here in New York but I'm also really excited to get home. Tomorrow I start the long commute home, but in less that 48 hours I'll be there!
Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch.
I'm in New York!!! It's a very exciting and kind of crazy city, I'm not sure I'd want to live here but it's certainly full of energy. Drivers swear at each other all the time, everything is in lights and the skyline is very impressive.
I arrived Wednesday afternoon and headed for my hostel on the upper west side near Central Park. Couldn't check in until 3pm so I dumped bags and went out to explore. Walked to Times Square - way too many bright signs. Even the police station and the subway signs were lit up.
Checked out the Broadway ticket sales place where you can get last minute half price tickets, lots of tempting options! Decided to a) wait a couple nights and b) try to see Hedda Gabler, reviewed in New Yorker and the magazine on my train.
I kept going south and found Macy's and the Empire State Building. I did not go up the latter because it cost $20 - they didn't show that bit in Sleepless in Seattle! It was only 5 euro to climb St Peter's dome so I don't know what New York thinks it's got that's better than Rome. I got a few good pictures and a postcard of NY from above to make up for not seeing it myself.
Thursday I headed to the Metropoliton Museum of Art for about 4 hours - it was great! A really eclectic mix from ancient Egyptian (Temple of Dandur - rescued from yearly flooding) to Modern (I saw Andy Warhol's Mao) it was a lot of fun. Decided to head toward the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) with stops along the way at Tiffany & co. (it looks much as it did when Audrey ate a pastry in front of it) and FAO Schwartz which was pretty impressive, I'd have bought a full size light saber if it would fit in my bag!
MoMA was amazing! Reminded of me of the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice and the Centre Pompidou in Paris - not surprising I guess since they're also modern art meccas. A whole room of Pollock, very overwhelming. Warhol, Jackson Jones, Rothko... it was very fun. And really weird, I ran into a friend from Christchurch who went to high school with me! Hamish and I did debating together and he's touring the US with his sister to look at potential physics programmes. And we ran into each other on an escalator in New York! Crazy world.An old friend, or really the daughter of an old friend of Mum's, lives in NY and I got in touch with her, unfortunately she is out of town for the week. She did however set me up with one of her friends, Jocelyn, who kindly agreed to meet me for coffee and a chat. We met at a cafe on 57th and Lexington and talked about our lives for two hours. It was fun, felt like I actually belonged a a little to the city. Dinner was pizza and then I wandered around Midtown until heading back to the hostel.
Yesterday was Friday and it was freezing cold - a guy in Italy told me that New York is warm but he lied. I went to the Guggenheim in the morning and did a tour that talked about the beginnings of modernism. Very interesting! That was until about 12 and I went backto MoMA because I accidentally kept the audioguide and decided I better take it back! There's a store there full of awesomeness so I browsed for ages and bought a little journal before heading towards Times Sq for cheap tickets. They didn't open until 3pm so I walked through the Virgin Megastore, which is totally insane. Huge! And it was really really cool to see a whole display of Flight of the Concords merchandise, including a t-shirt which said "New Zealand's Greatest Export." I got a ticket to Hedda Gabler and headed downtown to look at Wall St and the World Trade Centre sight. It was interesting to walk around the area, I remembered seeing the news etc. on the day.
The play was absolutely stunning! Mary Louise Parker was beautiful and captivating, the characters were fascinating. I really enjoyed the show, and the cheap seats were pretty darn good. So I've seen a show on the West End and one on Broadway now, two lifetime goals done. Of course there were SO many options at the ticket place, so much on Broadway and off that now I want to live in Toronto just so I can attend shows three times a year :)
Today is Saturday and I decided to explore the neighbourhoods I hadn't seen. Actually I spent a couple of hours on the subway having taken it the wrong way before finally arriving at the Staten Island Ferry for a close up with the Statue of Liberty. It was a fun round trip with lots of classic views, and free! Then I walked along the Brooklyn Bridge and walked around Brooklyn and Dumbo for a while, it was great! I found a little vintage market and then ate lunch looking over the harbour. A subway to Chinatown and I walked all the way through Soho and Greenwich Village up to Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building and the Library. Dinner on Broadway and back here to pack!
It has not been enough time here in New York but I'm also really excited to get home. Tomorrow I start the long commute home, but in less that 48 hours I'll be there!
Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Across the border!
Well you must be one of two things a) the die-hard fan who is still reading everything I post or b) the last minute catch up who remembered I'm home soon and thought you better have some semblance of awareness. For group (b): Dubai hot, Africa dusty, Greece friendly, Istanbul stalky, Italy arty, Barcelona party-y, Paris snobby, Dublin cold, London big, Toronto colder, Ottawa freezing, house got broke. Now you're all caught up.
I flew from Toronto to Virginia because Nelly's engagement party was on Saturday and I got to go, hurray! Nelly is Sharyn's daughter and Sharyn is Mum's friend from pre-Catie so Nelly was the big sister who taught me how to boss around your younger sibling and make them think it's a game. So I flew in Saturday morning and because my Canadian passport has expired I had to join the long line and now the US government has my picture and index fingerprints. Now when I commit my crime I'm limited to three fingers and a thumb, and may need to include a mask on the supply list (note to scanny spyware: this is a joke. I am not actually intending to commit a crime while in the USA. You should know this as I ticked the "no" box for that question. Also never a Nazi or infectiously diseased.)
I made it to Maryland and Washington D.C. while in the neighbourhood, just because, and had a lovely visit catching up with Nelly and Jay (the younger sibling who got bossed around with me) and am now near Boston visiting Sharyn and Jack before I head to New York to finish up being a tourist.
Canada was so great, I'm seriously considering the move to Toronto in the not-to-distant future. They have a ton of little papers and news magazines who could surely use some journalistic talent like me. Then I could regularly visit aunts, uncles, cousins etc. Downside is lack of parents and sister but you can't have everything and if I'm bossy enough Peggy might follow me! Peggy, it's called follow the leader - wanna play?
I flew from Toronto to Virginia because Nelly's engagement party was on Saturday and I got to go, hurray! Nelly is Sharyn's daughter and Sharyn is Mum's friend from pre-Catie so Nelly was the big sister who taught me how to boss around your younger sibling and make them think it's a game. So I flew in Saturday morning and because my Canadian passport has expired I had to join the long line and now the US government has my picture and index fingerprints. Now when I commit my crime I'm limited to three fingers and a thumb, and may need to include a mask on the supply list (note to scanny spyware: this is a joke. I am not actually intending to commit a crime while in the USA. You should know this as I ticked the "no" box for that question. Also never a Nazi or infectiously diseased.)
I made it to Maryland and Washington D.C. while in the neighbourhood, just because, and had a lovely visit catching up with Nelly and Jay (the younger sibling who got bossed around with me) and am now near Boston visiting Sharyn and Jack before I head to New York to finish up being a tourist.
Canada was so great, I'm seriously considering the move to Toronto in the not-to-distant future. They have a ton of little papers and news magazines who could surely use some journalistic talent like me. Then I could regularly visit aunts, uncles, cousins etc. Downside is lack of parents and sister but you can't have everything and if I'm bossy enough Peggy might follow me! Peggy, it's called follow the leader - wanna play?
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Can you help?
Hi all, I'm great. I hd a lovey new year and have been spending time with my cousin Bree and her daughter Vanessa. Lots of fun!
Bad news from Mvae, a big storm came through and damaged the dispensary we worked on. These storms are not common so they couldn't have predicted the result. As you can read below in Mr Makyao's letter they need a lot of help. Even just ten pounds (less than $30) would be worth giving. If you can help, thanks! I've given 100 pound myself and will continue to support HAPA when I get home. Only 14 days to go!
On the 16th December the team of HAPA and the district went to Mvae to see. We found that one side of the dispensary the roof was wascompletelety blown away. This is almost half of the building. The iron sheets and the roof trasses were taken off from the walls. Some of thebricks after the ring beam (the side elevetion) were also broken and fall down of which destroyed some of the funitures which were inside.
The destruction was caused by heavy rains which accompanied with strong wind like storm. Not only the dispensary affected, other eight housesincluding a church house which all the roof was taken off and the rest are the houses of the villagers.
The total distruction of the dispensary is estimated to cost 4.5 million Shillings (£2,350 or US$3,450) according to Gerald calculation. The staff house was affeted but not much. Only one iron sheet was taken off. The people from the district were asking the kind of supporting we going to give them but I had no answer as I know the situation.
The big challange we are facing the project was yet handed over to the community that is why we are asked our contribution towards rectifying thesituation.
To make a donation to Mvae, just click on this link https://secure.efundraising.org.uk/tailored/donation.asp?charity=71767
It's that easy.
Bad news from Mvae, a big storm came through and damaged the dispensary we worked on. These storms are not common so they couldn't have predicted the result. As you can read below in Mr Makyao's letter they need a lot of help. Even just ten pounds (less than $30) would be worth giving. If you can help, thanks! I've given 100 pound myself and will continue to support HAPA when I get home. Only 14 days to go!
On the 16th December the team of HAPA and the district went to Mvae to see. We found that one side of the dispensary the roof was wascompletelety blown away. This is almost half of the building. The iron sheets and the roof trasses were taken off from the walls. Some of thebricks after the ring beam (the side elevetion) were also broken and fall down of which destroyed some of the funitures which were inside.
The destruction was caused by heavy rains which accompanied with strong wind like storm. Not only the dispensary affected, other eight housesincluding a church house which all the roof was taken off and the rest are the houses of the villagers.
The total distruction of the dispensary is estimated to cost 4.5 million Shillings (£2,350 or US$3,450) according to Gerald calculation. The staff house was affeted but not much. Only one iron sheet was taken off. The people from the district were asking the kind of supporting we going to give them but I had no answer as I know the situation.
The big challange we are facing the project was yet handed over to the community that is why we are asked our contribution towards rectifying thesituation.
To make a donation to Mvae, just click on this link https://secure.efundraising.org.uk/tailored/donation.asp?charity=71767
It's that easy.
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